diff --git a/src/builtin_argparse.cpp b/src/builtin_argparse.cpp
index befb98722..1858242fa 100644
--- a/src/builtin_argparse.cpp
+++ b/src/builtin_argparse.cpp
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@ static int argparse_parse_flags(parser_t &parser, argparse_cmd_opts_t &opts,
     wgetopter_t w;
     while ((opt = w.wgetopt_long(argc, argv, short_options, long_options, &long_idx)) != -1) {
         if (opt == ':') {
-            builtin_missing_argument(parser, streams, cmd, argv[w.woptind - 1]);
+            streams.err.append_format(BUILTIN_ERR_MISSING, cmd, argv[w.woptind - 1]);
             return STATUS_INVALID_ARGS;
         } else if (opt == '?') {
             // It's not a recognized flag. See if it's an implicit int flag.
@@ -611,7 +611,7 @@ static int argparse_parse_args(argparse_cmd_opts_t &opts, const wcstring_list_t
 
     // "+" means stop at nonopt, "-" means give nonoptions the option character code `1`, and don't
     // reorder.
-    wcstring short_options = opts.stop_nonopt ? L"+:" : L"-";
+    wcstring short_options = opts.stop_nonopt ? L"+:" : L"-:";
     std::vector<woption> long_options;
     populate_option_strings(opts, &short_options, &long_options);
 
diff --git a/tests/checks/argparse.fish b/tests/checks/argparse.fish
index 62352b7ae..ad628a51c 100644
--- a/tests/checks/argparse.fish
+++ b/tests/checks/argparse.fish
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 #RUN: %fish %s
 ##########
+
+set -g LANG C
+
 # Start by verifying a bunch of error conditions.
 
 # No args is an error
@@ -300,3 +303,7 @@ begin
     # CHECK: argv
     # CHECK: saved_status 57
 end
+
+# #6483 - error messages for missing arguments
+argparse -n foo r/required= -- foo -r
+# CHECKERR: foo: Expected argument for option -r