diff --git a/megatron/neox_arguments/arguments.py b/megatron/neox_arguments/arguments.py
index 18de92296..040dc12d6 100644
--- a/megatron/neox_arguments/arguments.py
+++ b/megatron/neox_arguments/arguments.py
@@ -1135,56 +1135,63 @@ def validate_types(self):
         At runtime, checks types are actually the type specified.
         """
         for field_name, field_def in self.__dataclass_fields__.items():
-            actual_value = getattr(self, field_name)
-            if actual_value is None:
-                continue  # we allow for some values not to be configured
-
-            if self.autotuning is not None and actual_value == "auto":
-                continue
+            try:
+                actual_value = getattr(self, field_name)
+                if actual_value is None:
+                    continue  # we allow for some values not to be configured
 
-            actual_type = type(actual_value)
-            if actual_type != field_def.type:
-                if (
-                    actual_type == int and field_def.type == float
-                ):  # floats should be able to be configured as ints
+                if self.autotuning is not None and actual_value == "auto":
                     continue
 
-                # for typing.Literal (i.e a list of choices) - checks that actual value is in accepted values
-                elif field_def.type.__origin__ == Literal:
-                    accepted_values = field_def.type.__args__
-                    if actual_value in accepted_values:
+                actual_type = type(actual_value)
+                if actual_type != field_def.type:
+                    if (
+                        actual_type == int and field_def.type == float
+                    ):  # floats should be able to be configured as ints
                         continue
-                    elif type(actual_value) == str:
-                        # case insensitive checking
-                        lowercase_accepted_values = [
-                            i.lower() for i in accepted_values if isinstance(i, str)
-                        ]
-                        if actual_value.lower() in lowercase_accepted_values:
+
+                    # for typing.Literal (i.e a list of choices) - checks that actual value is in accepted values
+                    elif field_def.type.__origin__ == Literal:
+                        accepted_values = field_def.type.__args__
+                        if actual_value in accepted_values:
                             continue
-                    logging.error(
-                        self.__class__.__name__
-                        + ".validate_types() "
-                        + f"{field_name}: '{actual_value}' Not in accepted values: '{accepted_values}'"
-                    )
-                    return False
-                elif field_def.type.__origin__ == Union:
-                    accepted_types = field_def.type.__args__
-                    if actual_type in accepted_types:
-                        continue
-                    else:
+                        elif type(actual_value) == str:
+                            # case insensitive checking
+                            lowercase_accepted_values = [
+                                i.lower() for i in accepted_values if isinstance(i, str)
+                            ]
+                            if actual_value.lower() in lowercase_accepted_values:
+                                continue
                         logging.error(
                             self.__class__.__name__
                             + ".validate_types() "
-                            + f"{field_name}: '{actual_type}' not in {accepted_types}"
+                            + f"{field_name}: '{actual_value}' Not in accepted values: '{accepted_values}'"
                         )
                         return False
+                    elif field_def.type.__origin__ == Union:
+                        accepted_types = field_def.type.__args__
+                        if actual_type in accepted_types:
+                            continue
+                        else:
+                            logging.error(
+                                self.__class__.__name__
+                                + ".validate_types() "
+                                + f"{field_name}: '{actual_type}' not in {accepted_types}"
+                            )
+                            return False
+
+                    logging.error(
+                        self.__class__.__name__
+                        + ".validate_types() "
+                        + f"{field_name}: '{actual_type}' instead of '{field_def.type}'"
+                    )
+                    return False
 
+            except Exception as e:
                 logging.error(
-                    self.__class__.__name__
-                    + ".validate_types() "
-                    + f"{field_name}: '{actual_type}' instead of '{field_def.type}'"
+                    f"Found an error for configuration {field_name=} with {field_def=}, see below for more details;"
                 )
-                return False
+                raise e
 
         # validate deepspeed dicts
         for field_name in ["optimizer", "scheduler"]: