diff --git a/lib/utils/error-message.js b/lib/utils/error-message.js
index 55c54634542fa..bf5d65c0df3ca 100644
--- a/lib/utils/error-message.js
+++ b/lib/utils/error-message.js
@@ -154,10 +154,12 @@ function errorMessage (er) {
       var msg = er.message.replace(/^404\s+/, '')
       short.push(['404', msg])
       if (er.pkgid && er.pkgid !== '-') {
+        var pkg = er.pkgid.replace(/(?!^)@.*$/, '')
+
         detail.push(['404', ''])
         detail.push(['404', '', "'" + er.pkgid + "' is not in the npm registry."])
 
-        var valResult = nameValidator(er.pkgid)
+        var valResult = nameValidator(pkg)
 
         if (valResult.validForNewPackages) {
           detail.push(['404', 'You should bug the author to publish it (or use the name yourself!)'])
diff --git a/test/tap/404.js b/test/tap/404.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..710780ad26e60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tap/404.js
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+'use strict'
+const path = require('path')
+const test = require('tap').test
+const Tacks = require('tacks')
+const File = Tacks.File
+const Dir = Tacks.Dir
+const common = require('../common-tap.js')
+
+const e404 = /test-npm-404@latest' is not in the npm registry/
+const invalidPackage = /Your package name is not valid, because[\s\S]+1\. name can only contain URL-friendly characters/
+
+const basedir = path.join(__dirname, path.basename(__filename, '.js'))
+const testdir = path.join(basedir, 'testdir')
+const cachedir = path.join(basedir, 'cache')
+const globaldir = path.join(basedir, 'global')
+const tmpdir = path.join(basedir, 'tmp')
+
+const env = common.newEnv().extend({
+  npm_config_cache: cachedir,
+  npm_config_tmp: tmpdir,
+  npm_config_prefix: globaldir,
+  npm_config_registry: common.registry,
+  npm_config_loglevel: 'error'
+})
+
+const fixture = new Tacks(Dir({
+  cache: Dir(),
+  global: Dir(),
+  tmp: Dir(),
+  testdir: Dir({
+    'package.json': File({
+      name: 'test',
+      version: '1.0.0'
+    })
+  })
+}))
+
+function setup () {
+  cleanup()
+  fixture.create(basedir)
+}
+
+function cleanup () {
+  fixture.remove(basedir)
+}
+
+test('setup', function (t) {
+  setup()
+  return common.fakeRegistry.listen()
+})
+
+test('404 message for basic package', function (t) {
+  return common.npm(['install', 'test-npm-404'], {cwd: testdir, env}).then(([code, stdout, stderr]) => {
+    t.is(code, 1, 'error code')
+    t.match(stderr, e404, 'error output')
+    t.notMatch(stderr, invalidPackage, 'no invalidity error')
+  })
+})
+
+test('404 message for scoped package', function (t) {
+  return common.npm(['install', '@npm/test-npm-404'], {cwd: testdir, env}).then(([code, stdout, stderr]) => {
+    t.is(code, 1, 'error code')
+    t.match(stderr, e404, 'error output')
+    t.notMatch(stderr, invalidPackage, 'no invalidity error')
+  })
+})
+
+test('cleanup', function (t) {
+  common.fakeRegistry.close()
+  cleanup()
+  t.done()
+})