diff --git a/framework/src/utils/InputParameters.C b/framework/src/utils/InputParameters.C
index 6ab5b6697b15..ebc2a229c5a0 100644
--- a/framework/src/utils/InputParameters.C
+++ b/framework/src/utils/InputParameters.C
@@ -1156,6 +1156,10 @@ InputParameters::applyParameter(const InputParameters & common,
     // the parameter in the action
     at(local_name)._hit_node = common.getHitNode(common_name);
   }
+  else if (!local_exist && !common_exist)
+    mooseError("InputParameters::applyParameter(): Attempted to apply invalid parameter \"",
+               common_name,
+               "\"");
 
   // Enable deprecated message printing
   _show_deprecated_message = true;
diff --git a/unit/src/InputParametersTest.C b/unit/src/InputParametersTest.C
index 7558fb479881..6c507a8ef59d 100644
--- a/unit/src/InputParametersTest.C
+++ b/unit/src/InputParametersTest.C
@@ -182,6 +182,9 @@ TEST(InputParametersTest, applyParameter)
   p2.set<MultiMooseEnum>("enum") = "bar";
   p1.applyParameter(p2, "enum");
   EXPECT_TRUE(p1.get<MultiMooseEnum>("enum").contains("bar"));
+
+  // applyParameter should throw error if input parameter doesn't match any valid parameters
+  EXPECT_THROW(p1.applyParameter(p2, "invalid_param"), std::exception);
 }
 
 TEST(InputParametersTest, applyParametersVector)