diff --git a/R/build-home-index.R b/R/build-home-index.R
index 2a3e6de4d..ea07966d0 100644
--- a/R/build-home-index.R
+++ b/R/build-home-index.R
@@ -67,11 +67,9 @@ data_home_sidebar <- function(pkg = ".", call = caller_env()) {
       rel_html_path <- fs::path_rel(html_path, pkg$src_path)
       config_abort(
         pkg,
-        "Path specified in {.field home.sidebar.html} ({.file {rel_html_path}}) doesn't exist.",
+        "{.field home.sidebar.html} specifies a file that doesn't exist ({.file {rel_html_path}}).",
         call = call
       )
-
-
     }
     return(read_file(html_path))
   }
diff --git a/R/navbar.R b/R/navbar.R
index f03bf6e50..7c1ce79c7 100644
--- a/R/navbar.R
+++ b/R/navbar.R
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ render_navbar_links <- function(x, depth = 0L, pkg) {
   if (!is.list(x)) {
     config_abort(
       pkg,
-      "Invalid navbar specification.", 
+      "{.field navbar} is incorrectly specified.",
       call = quote(data_template())
     )
   }
diff --git a/R/pkgdown.R b/R/pkgdown.R
index 96e1c292b..0a0b5e7fb 100644
--- a/R/pkgdown.R
+++ b/R/pkgdown.R
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ local_pkgdown_template_pkg <- function(path = NULL, meta = NULL, env = parent.fr
     desc$set("Package", "templatepackage")
     desc$set("Title", "A test template package")
     desc$write(file = file.path(path, "DESCRIPTION"))
-    file.create(path(path, "_pkgdown.yaml"))
   }
 
   if (!is.null(meta)) {
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/build-home-index.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/build-home-index.md
index d5038ecbb..67e283fce 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/build-home-index.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/build-home-index.md
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
 
 # data_home_sidebar() errors well when no HTML file
 
-    Path specified in home.sidebar.html ('file.html') doesn't exist.
+    home.sidebar.html specifies a file that doesn't exist ('file.html').
     i Edit _pkgdown.yml to fix the problem.
 
 # data_home_sidebar() can get a custom markdown formatted component
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/navbar.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/navbar.md
index ca494f493..2e000c286 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/navbar.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/navbar.md
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@
       data_navbar(pkg)
     Condition
       Error in `data_template()`:
-      ! Invalid navbar specification.
+      ! navbar is incorrectly specified.
       i Edit _pkgdown.yml to fix the problem.
 
 # render_navbar_links BS3 & BS4 default