diff --git a/cmd/metal-api/internal/service/machine-service.go b/cmd/metal-api/internal/service/machine-service.go
index ed39f4f2..69e6fd11 100644
--- a/cmd/metal-api/internal/service/machine-service.go
+++ b/cmd/metal-api/internal/service/machine-service.go
@@ -1380,7 +1380,7 @@ func validateAllocationSpec(allocationSpec *machineAllocationSpec) error {
 	for _, pubKey := range allocationSpec.SSHPubKeys {
 		_, _, _, _, err := ssh.ParseAuthorizedKey([]byte(pubKey))
 		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("invalid public SSH key: %s", pubKey)
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid public SSH key: %s error:%w", pubKey, err)
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/cmd/metal-api/internal/service/machine-service_test.go b/cmd/metal-api/internal/service/machine-service_test.go
index 39a66251..c4fb836e 100644
--- a/cmd/metal-api/internal/service/machine-service_test.go
+++ b/cmd/metal-api/internal/service/machine-service_test.go
@@ -645,9 +645,20 @@ func Test_validateAllocationSpec(t *testing.T) {
 				Role:       metal.RoleMachine,
 			},
 			isError:  true,
-			expected: `invalid public SSH key: 42`,
+			expected: `invalid public SSH key: 42 error:ssh: no key found`,
 			name:     "invalid ssh",
 		},
+		{
+			spec: machineAllocationSpec{
+				UUID:       "43",
+				Creator:    testEmail,
+				ProjectID:  "123",
+				SSHPubKeys: []string{"ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBH9uyBvRBTUJFFAOKB/ZH/5Mm/MrqEDhkB4wTPWbJaJ5zHirBrLS1qk2Ut0yEL4vZvfnafnrzsed3n75/1BSmSg= test@metal-stack.io"},
+				Role:       metal.RoleMachine,
+			},
+			isError: false,
+			name:    "valid ssh",
+		},
 		{
 			spec: machineAllocationSpec{
 				UUID:      "gopher-uuid",