diff --git a/package/AUTHORS b/package/AUTHORS
index e23f2afcf2..6c9b9fe93c 100644
--- a/package/AUTHORS
+++ b/package/AUTHORS
@@ -265,6 +265,7 @@ Chronological list of authors
   - Raúl Lois-Cuns  
   - Pranay Pelapkar
   - Shreejan Dolai
+  - Tanisha Dubey
 
 External code
 -------------
diff --git a/package/CHANGELOG b/package/CHANGELOG
index 642e717b85..e51a441d98 100644
--- a/package/CHANGELOG
+++ b/package/CHANGELOG
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ The rules for this file:
 
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ??/??/?? IAlibay, orbeckst, marinegor, tylerjereddy, ljwoods2, marinegor,
-         spyke7, talagayev
+         spyke7, talagayev, tanii1125
 
  * 2.11.0
 
diff --git a/package/MDAnalysis/analysis/msd.py b/package/MDAnalysis/analysis/msd.py
index 3ce9eecaa7..03fc6b0010 100644
--- a/package/MDAnalysis/analysis/msd.py
+++ b/package/MDAnalysis/analysis/msd.py
@@ -382,14 +382,11 @@ def _parse_msd_type(self):
             "xyz": [0, 1, 2],
         }
 
-        self.msd_type = self.msd_type.lower()
-
         try:
-            self._dim = keys[self.msd_type]
-        except KeyError:
+            self._dim = keys[self.msd_type.lower()]
+        except (AttributeError, KeyError):
             raise ValueError(
-                "invalid msd_type: {} specified, please specify one of xyz, "
-                "xy, xz, yz, x, y, z".format(self.msd_type)
+                f"Invalid msd_type {self.msd_type}, must be a string and one of: xyz, xy, xz, yz, x, y, z"
             )
 
         self.dim_fac = len(self._dim)
diff --git a/testsuite/MDAnalysisTests/analysis/test_msd.py b/testsuite/MDAnalysisTests/analysis/test_msd.py
index 0e8c9dad53..4a0a5717a3 100644
--- a/testsuite/MDAnalysisTests/analysis/test_msd.py
+++ b/testsuite/MDAnalysisTests/analysis/test_msd.py
@@ -117,9 +117,11 @@ def test_updating_ag_rejected(self, u):
         with pytest.raises(TypeError, match=errmsg):
             m = MSD(updating_ag, msd_type="xyz", fft=False)
 
-    @pytest.mark.parametrize("msdtype", ["foo", "bar", "yx", "zyx"])
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "msdtype", ["foo", "bar", "yx", "zyx", 123, "", " xy "]
+    )
     def test_msdtype_error(self, u, SELECTION, msdtype):
-        errmsg = f"invalid msd_type: {msdtype}"
+        errmsg = f"Invalid msd_type {msdtype}, must be a string and one of: xyz, xy, xz, yz, x, y, z"
         with pytest.raises(ValueError, match=errmsg):
             m = MSD(u, SELECTION, msd_type=msdtype)