diff --git a/test/testdata.go b/test/testdata.go
index b9b3a65f9ac47..2c5c6178317e3 100644
--- a/test/testdata.go
+++ b/test/testdata.go
@@ -4,9 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"context"
 
 	"github.com/alicebob/miniredis/v2"
-	"github.com/redis/go-redis/v9"
-
 	"github.com/argoproj/gitops-engine/pkg/utils/testing"
+	"github.com/redis/go-redis/v9"
 	apiv1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
@@ -86,6 +85,22 @@ func NewDeployment() *unstructured.Unstructured {
 	return testing.Unstructured(DeploymentManifest)
 }
 
+var ConfigMapManifest = `
+{	
+  "apiVersion": "v1",
+  "kind": "ConfigMap",
+  "metadata": {
+    "name": "my-configmap",
+  },
+  "data": {
+    "config.yaml": "auth: token\nconfig:field"
+  }
+}`
+
+func NewConfigMap() *unstructured.Unstructured {
+	return testing.Unstructured(ConfigMapManifest)
+}
+
 func NewFakeConfigMap() *apiv1.ConfigMap {
 	cm := apiv1.ConfigMap{
 		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
diff --git a/test/testutil.go b/test/testutil.go
index 268d739d7b9f4..34264772fa54f 100644
--- a/test/testutil.go
+++ b/test/testutil.go
@@ -1,15 +1,16 @@
 package test
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
-	"log"
 	"net"
 	"os"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/tools/cache"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
@@ -107,3 +108,18 @@ func GetTestDir(t *testing.T) string {
 	}
 	return cwd
 }
+
+// CaptureLogEntries captures log entries generated by the logger and return it as string
+func CaptureLogEntries(run func()) string {
+	f := log.StandardLogger().Formatter
+	log.SetFormatter(&log.TextFormatter{DisableColors: true})
+	defer log.SetFormatter(f)
+	output := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
+	log.SetOutput(output)
+	log.SetLevel(log.DebugLevel)
+	defer log.SetOutput(os.Stdout)
+
+	run()
+
+	return output.String()
+}
diff --git a/util/argo/normalizers/diff_normalizer.go b/util/argo/normalizers/diff_normalizer.go
index 6eae329d186d8..af2d69fb2488a 100644
--- a/util/argo/normalizers/diff_normalizer.go
+++ b/util/argo/normalizers/diff_normalizer.go
@@ -72,6 +72,9 @@ func (np *jqNormalizerPatch) Apply(data []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	if !ok {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("JQ patch did not return any data")
 	}
+	if err, ok = first.(error); ok {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("JQ patch returned error: %w", err)
+	}
 	_, ok = iter.Next()
 	if ok {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("JQ patch returned multiple objects")
diff --git a/util/argo/normalizers/diff_normalizer_test.go b/util/argo/normalizers/diff_normalizer_test.go
index 99f0ec3ff9db3..1b8c2bcdcebca 100644
--- a/util/argo/normalizers/diff_normalizer_test.go
+++ b/util/argo/normalizers/diff_normalizer_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
 
@@ -252,3 +253,22 @@ func TestNormalizeExpectedErrorAreSilenced(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.True(t, shouldLogError(fmt.Errorf("An error that should not be ignored")))
 
 }
+
+func TestJQPathExpressionReturnsHelpfulError(t *testing.T) {
+	normalizer, err := NewIgnoreNormalizer([]v1alpha1.ResourceIgnoreDifferences{{
+		Kind: "ConfigMap",
+		// This is a really wild expression, but it does trigger the desired error.
+		JQPathExpressions: []string{`.nothing) | .data["config.yaml"] |= (fromjson | del(.auth) | tojson`},
+	}}, nil)
+
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	configMap := test.NewConfigMap()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	out := test.CaptureLogEntries(func() {
+		err = normalizer.Normalize(configMap)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+	})
+	assert.Contains(t, out, "fromjson cannot be applied")
+}