diff --git a/src/SixLabors.Core/Helpers/Guard.cs b/src/SixLabors.Core/Helpers/Guard.cs
index 41db42fc1a..069c4eb051 100644
--- a/src/SixLabors.Core/Helpers/Guard.cs
+++ b/src/SixLabors.Core/Helpers/Guard.cs
@@ -20,19 +20,13 @@ namespace SixLabors
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="target">The target object, which cannot be null.</param>
         /// <param name="parameterName">The name of the parameter that is to be checked.</param>
-        /// <param name="message">The error message, if any to add to the exception.</param>
         /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException"><paramref name="target"/> is null</exception>
         /// <typeparam name="T">The type of the object to verify</typeparam>
-        public static void NotNull<T>(T target, string parameterName, string message = "")
+        public static void NotNull<T>(T target, string parameterName)
             where T : class
         {
-            if (target == null)
+            if (target is null)
             {
-                if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(message))
-                {
-                    throw new ArgumentNullException(parameterName, message);
-                }
-
                 throw new ArgumentNullException(parameterName);
             }
         }
@@ -44,20 +38,14 @@ namespace SixLabors
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="target">The target string, which should be checked against being null or empty.</param>
         /// <param name="parameterName">Name of the parameter.</param>
-        /// <param name="message">The error message, if any to add to the exception.</param>
         /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException"><paramref name="target"/> is null.</exception>
         /// <exception cref="ArgumentException"><paramref name="target"/> is empty or contains only blanks.</exception>
-        public static void NotNullOrEmpty(string target, string parameterName, string message = "")
+        public static void NotNullOrEmpty(string target, string parameterName)
         {
-            NotNull(target, parameterName, message);
+            NotNull(target, parameterName);
 
             if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(target))
             {
-                if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(message))
-                {
-                    throw new ArgumentException(message, parameterName);
-                }
-
                 throw new ArgumentException("Value cannot be null, empty, or cannot contain only whitespace.", parameterName);
             }
         }
@@ -68,20 +56,14 @@ namespace SixLabors
         /// <typeparam name="T">The type of objects in the <paramref name="target"/></typeparam>
         /// <param name="target">The target enumeration, which should be checked against being null or empty.</param>
         /// <param name="parameterName">Name of the parameter.</param>
-        /// <param name="message">The error message, if any to add to the exception.</param>
         /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException"><paramref name="target"/> is null.</exception>
         /// <exception cref="ArgumentException"><paramref name="target"/> is empty.</exception>
-        public static void NotNullOrEmpty<T>(IEnumerable<T> target, string parameterName, string message = "")
+        public static void NotNullOrEmpty<T>(IEnumerable<T> target, string parameterName)
         {
-            NotNull(target, parameterName, message);
+            NotNull(target, parameterName);
 
             if (!target.Any())
             {
-                if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(message))
-                {
-                    throw new ArgumentException(message, parameterName);
-                }
-
                 throw new ArgumentException("Value cannot be empty.", parameterName);
             }
         }
@@ -247,4 +229,4 @@ namespace SixLabors
             }
         }
     }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/SixLabors.Core.Tests/Helpers/GuardTests.cs b/tests/SixLabors.Core.Tests/Helpers/GuardTests.cs
index ed2e0b5c75..b3f1b96a0e 100644
--- a/tests/SixLabors.Core.Tests/Helpers/GuardTests.cs
+++ b/tests/SixLabors.Core.Tests/Helpers/GuardTests.cs
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
-using System.Linq;
 using Xunit;
 
 namespace SixLabors.Helpers.Tests
@@ -25,18 +24,6 @@ namespace SixLabors.Helpers.Tests
             });
         }
 
-        [Fact]
-        public void NotNull_TargetNullWithMessage_ThrowsException()
-        {
-            var exception = Assert.Throws<ArgumentNullException>(() =>
-            {
-                Guard.NotNull((object)null, "myParamName", "myTestMessage");
-            });
-
-            Assert.Equal("myParamName", exception.ParamName);
-            Assert.True(exception.Message.Contains("myTestMessage"));
-        }
-
         [Fact]
         public void NotNullOrEmpty_TargetNotNullOrEmpty_ThrowsNoException()
         {
@@ -73,18 +60,6 @@ namespace SixLabors.Helpers.Tests
             Assert.True(exception.Message.Contains("Value cannot be null, empty, or cannot contain only whitespace."));
         }
 
-        [Fact]
-        public void NotNullOrEmpty_TargetEmptyWithMessage_ThrowsException()
-        {
-            var exception = Assert.Throws<ArgumentException>(() =>
-            {
-                Guard.NotNullOrEmpty(string.Empty, "myParamName", "myTestMessage");
-            });
-
-            Assert.Equal("myParamName", exception.ParamName);
-            Assert.True(exception.Message.Contains("myTestMessage"));
-        }
-
         [Fact]
         public void NotNullOrEmptyIEnumerable_TargetNotNullOrEmpty_ThrowsNoException()
         {
@@ -112,18 +87,6 @@ namespace SixLabors.Helpers.Tests
             Assert.True(exception.Message.Contains("Value cannot be empty."));
         }
 
-        [Fact]
-        public void NotNullOrEmptyIEnumerable_TargetEmptyWithMessage_ThrowsException()
-        {
-            var exception = Assert.Throws<ArgumentException>(() =>
-            {
-                Guard.NotNullOrEmpty(new string[] { }, "myParamName", "myTestMessage");
-            });
-
-            Assert.Equal("myParamName", exception.ParamName);
-            Assert.True(exception.Message.Contains("myTestMessage"));
-        }
-
         [Fact]
         public void MustBeLessThan_IsLess_ThrowsNoException()
         {