diff --git a/octodns/manager.py b/octodns/manager.py
index a0a8b91..c80b4cb 100644
--- a/octodns/manager.py
+++ b/octodns/manager.py
@@ -254,15 +254,14 @@ class Manager(object):
     def _config_plan_outputs(self, plan_outputs_config):
         plan_outputs = {}
         for plan_output_name, plan_output_config in plan_outputs_config.items():
-            context = getattr(plan_output_config, 'context', None)
+            context = getattr(plan_output_config, 'context', '')
             try:
                 _class = plan_output_config.pop('class')
             except KeyError:
                 self.log.exception('Invalid plan_output class')
-                msg = f'plan_output {plan_output_name} is missing class'
-                if context:
-                    msg += f', {context}'
-                raise ManagerException(msg)
+                raise ManagerException(
+                    f'plan_output {plan_output_name} is missing class, {context}'
+                )
             _class, module, version = self._get_named_class(
                 'plan_output', _class, context
             )
@@ -281,10 +280,9 @@ class Manager(object):
                     )
             except TypeError:
                 self.log.exception('Invalid plan_output config')
-                msg = f'Incorrect plan_output config for {plan_output_name}'
-                if context:
-                    msg += f', {plan_output_config.context}'
-                raise ManagerException(msg)
+                raise ManagerException(
+                    f'Incorrect plan_output config for {plan_output_name}, {context}'
+                )
 
         return plan_outputs
 
@@ -324,10 +322,9 @@ class Manager(object):
             self.log.exception(
                 '_get_{}_class: Unable to import module %s', _class
             )
-            msg = f'Unknown {_type} class: {_class}'
-            if context:
-                msg += f', {context}'
-            raise ManagerException(msg)
+            raise ManagerException(
+                f'Unknown {_type} class: {_class}, {context}'
+            )
 
         try:
             return getattr(module, class_name), module_name, version
@@ -344,7 +341,6 @@ class Manager(object):
     def _build_kwargs(self, source):
         # Build up the arguments we need to pass to the provider
         kwargs = {}
-        context = getattr(source, 'context', None)
         for k, v in source.items():
             try:
                 if v.startswith('env/'):
@@ -353,10 +349,9 @@ class Manager(object):
                         v = environ[env_var]
                     except KeyError:
                         self.log.exception('Invalid provider config')
-                        msg = f'Incorrect provider config, missing env var {env_var}'
-                        if context:
-                            msg += f', {context}'
-                        raise ManagerException(msg)
+                        raise ManagerException(
+                            f'Incorrect provider config, missing env var {env_var}, {source.context}'
+                        )
             except AttributeError:
                 pass
             kwargs[k] = v
diff --git a/tests/test_octodns_manager.py b/tests/test_octodns_manager.py
index 7d100dc..663e467 100644
--- a/tests/test_octodns_manager.py
+++ b/tests/test_octodns_manager.py
@@ -104,7 +104,9 @@ class TestManager(TestCase):
         with self.assertRaises(ManagerException) as ctx:
             name = 'bad-plan-output-missing-class.yaml'
             Manager(get_config_filename(name)).sync()
-        self.assertTrue('plan_output bad is missing class' in str(ctx.exception))
+        self.assertTrue(
+            'plan_output bad is missing class' in str(ctx.exception)
+        )
 
     def test_bad_plan_output_config(self):
         with self.assertRaises(ManagerException) as ctx:
diff --git a/tests/test_octodns_record.py b/tests/test_octodns_record.py
index becc802..29561c3 100644
--- a/tests/test_octodns_record.py
+++ b/tests/test_octodns_record.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ from octodns.record import (
     ValidationError,
     ValuesMixin,
 )
+from octodns.yaml import ContextDict
 from octodns.zone import Zone
 
 
@@ -572,3 +573,58 @@ class TestRecordValidation(TestCase):
             },
             lenient=True,
         )
+
+    def test_validation_context(self):
+        # fails validation, no context
+        with self.assertRaises(ValidationError) as ctx:
+            Record.new(
+                self.zone, 'www', {'type': 'A', 'ttl': -1, 'value': '1.2.3.4'}
+            )
+        self.assertFalse(', line' in str(ctx.exception))
+
+        # fails validation, with context
+        with self.assertRaises(ValidationError) as ctx:
+            Record.new(
+                self.zone,
+                'www',
+                ContextDict(
+                    {'type': 'A', 'ttl': -1, 'value': '1.2.3.4'},
+                    context='needle',
+                ),
+            )
+        self.assertTrue('needle' in str(ctx.exception))
+
+    def test_invalid_type_context(self):
+        # fails validation, no context
+        with self.assertRaises(Exception) as ctx:
+            Record.new(
+                self.zone, 'www', {'type': 'X', 'ttl': 42, 'value': '1.2.3.4'}
+            )
+        self.assertFalse(', line' in str(ctx.exception))
+
+        # fails validation, with context
+        with self.assertRaises(Exception) as ctx:
+            Record.new(
+                self.zone,
+                'www',
+                ContextDict(
+                    {'type': 'X', 'ttl': 42, 'value': '1.2.3.4'},
+                    context='needle',
+                ),
+            )
+        self.assertTrue('needle' in str(ctx.exception))
+
+    def test_missing_type_context(self):
+        # fails validation, no context
+        with self.assertRaises(Exception) as ctx:
+            Record.new(self.zone, 'www', {'ttl': 42, 'value': '1.2.3.4'})
+        self.assertFalse(', line' in str(ctx.exception))
+
+        # fails validation, with context
+        with self.assertRaises(Exception) as ctx:
+            Record.new(
+                self.zone,
+                'www',
+                ContextDict({'ttl': 42, 'value': '1.2.3.4'}, context='needle'),
+            )
+        self.assertTrue('needle' in str(ctx.exception))