diff --git a/src/ape_pm/dependency.py b/src/ape_pm/dependency.py
index d7bc88fbb1..2623dd99aa 100644
--- a/src/ape_pm/dependency.py
+++ b/src/ape_pm/dependency.py
@@ -427,7 +427,7 @@ def version_id(self) -> str:
         try:
             vers = f"{metadata.version(self.python)}"
         except metadata.PackageNotFoundError as err:
-            raise ProjectError(f"Dependency '{self.python}' not found installed.") from err
+            raise ProjectError(f"Dependency '{self.python}' not installed.") from err
 
         if spec_vers := self.version:
             if spec_vers != vers:
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_dependencies.py b/tests/functional/test_dependencies.py
index d0f834e826..7685a38b80 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_dependencies.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_dependencies.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from pydantic import ValidationError
 
 import ape
+from ape.exceptions import ProjectError
 from ape.managers.project import Dependency, LocalProject, PackagesCache, Project, ProjectManager
 from ape.utils import create_tempdir
 from ape_pm.dependency import GithubDependency, LocalDependency, NpmDependency, PythonDependency
@@ -594,6 +595,13 @@ def test_version_id(self, web3_dependency):
         assert actual[0].isnumeric()
         assert "." in actual  # sep from minor / major / patch
 
+    def test_version_id_not_found(self):
+        name = "xxthisnameisnotarealpythonpackagexx"
+        dependency = PythonDependency.model_validate({"python": name})
+        expected = f"Dependency '{name}' not installed."
+        with pytest.raises(ProjectError, match=expected):
+            _ = dependency.version_id
+
     def test_fetch(self, web3_dependency):
         with create_tempdir() as temp_dir:
             web3_dependency.fetch(temp_dir)