diff --git a/Hippo/Messages/CreateChannelRequest.cs b/Hippo/Messages/CreateChannelRequest.cs
index aef0033fd..905958014 100644
--- a/Hippo/Messages/CreateChannelRequest.cs
+++ b/Hippo/Messages/CreateChannelRequest.cs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
 using Hippo.Logging;
 using Hippo.Models;
+using Hippo.Rules;
 
 namespace Hippo.Messages
 {
@@ -65,10 +66,11 @@ public IEnumerable<ValidationResult> Validate(ValidationContext validationContex
                 }
 
 
-                if (!SemVer.Range.TryParse(RevisionRange, out _))
+                var ruleError = RevisionRangeRule.Validate(RevisionRange);
+                if (ruleError != null)
                 {
                     yield return new ValidationResult(
-                        $"Revision Range does not comply with Semantic Versioning version number range rules",
+                        $"Revision range is not valid rule syntax: {ruleError.Message}",
                         new[] { nameof(RevisionRange) });
                 }
 
diff --git a/Hippo/Rules/RevisionRangeRule.cs b/Hippo/Rules/RevisionRangeRule.cs
index 8593ccb16..81e628d4a 100644
--- a/Hippo/Rules/RevisionRangeRule.cs
+++ b/Hippo/Rules/RevisionRangeRule.cs
@@ -25,6 +25,19 @@ public static RevisionRangeRule Parse(string? rule)
             return new NpmRevisionRangeRule(rule);
         }
 
+        public static Exception? Validate(string? rule)
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                Parse(rule);
+                return null;
+            }
+            catch (Exception e)
+            {
+                return e;
+            }
+        }
+
         public abstract Revision? Match(ICollection<Revision> candidates);
 
         private class NpmRevisionRangeRule : RevisionRangeRule