diff --git a/src/uu/ls/locales/en-US.ftl b/src/uu/ls/locales/en-US.ftl
index 7de4a17ce2e..0aae2862567 100644
--- a/src/uu/ls/locales/en-US.ftl
+++ b/src/uu/ls/locales/en-US.ftl
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ ls-error-unknown-io-error = unknown io error: {$path}, '{$error}'
 ls-error-invalid-block-size = invalid --block-size argument {$size}
 ls-error-dired-and-zero-incompatible = --dired and --zero are incompatible
 ls-error-not-listing-already-listed = {$path}: not listing already-listed directory
+ls-error-not-directory = {$path}: A path component was not a directory
 ls-error-invalid-time-style = invalid --time-style argument {$style}
   Possible values are:
     - [posix-]full-iso
diff --git a/src/uu/ls/src/ls.rs b/src/uu/ls/src/ls.rs
index 6ce28cd7cea..ba5f777a249 100644
--- a/src/uu/ls/src/ls.rs
+++ b/src/uu/ls/src/ls.rs
@@ -186,6 +186,7 @@ enum LsError {
 
     #[error("{}", match .1.kind() {
         ErrorKind::NotFound => translate!("ls-error-cannot-access-no-such-file", "path" => .0.quote()),
+        ErrorKind::NotADirectory => translate!("ls-error-not-directory", "path" => .0.quote()),
         ErrorKind::PermissionDenied => match .1.raw_os_error().unwrap_or(1) {
             1 => translate!("ls-error-cannot-access-operation-not-permitted", "path" => .0.quote()),
             _ => if .0.is_dir() {
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs b/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs
index 11365392ae1..9bed74d6f4d 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs
@@ -2548,6 +2548,18 @@ fn test_ls_non_existing() {
     new_ucmd!().arg("doesntexist").fails();
 }
 
+#[test]
+#[cfg(unix)]
+fn test_ls_not_a_directory_errors() {
+    let scene = TestScenario::new(util_name!());
+    scene
+        .ucmd()
+        .arg("/etc/hosts/test")
+        .fails()
+        .code_is(2)
+        .stderr_contains("not a directory");
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn test_ls_files_dirs() {
     let scene = TestScenario::new(util_name!());