diff --git a/cuda_core/cuda/core/checkpoint.py b/cuda_core/cuda/core/checkpoint.py
index 7f811013d19..97c63251087 100644
--- a/cuda_core/cuda/core/checkpoint.py
+++ b/cuda_core/cuda/core/checkpoint.py
@@ -235,18 +235,22 @@ def _make_restore_args(driver, gpu_mapping: _Mapping[_Any, _Any] | None):
 def _as_cuuuid(driver, value, buffers):
     """Convert *value* to a ``CUuuid``.
 
-    Accepts a ``CUuuid`` instance (returned as-is) or a UUID string in
-    the ``"xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"`` format returned by
-    :attr:`Device.uuid`.
+    Accepts a UUID string in the ``"xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"``
+    format returned by :attr:`Device.uuid`.
     """
     if isinstance(value, str):
-        raw = bytes.fromhex(value.replace("-", ""))
+        try:
+            raw = bytes.fromhex(value.replace("-", ""))
+        except ValueError:
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"GPU UUID string must be 32 hex characters (with optional hyphens), got {value!r}"
+            ) from None
         if len(raw) != 16:
             raise ValueError(f"GPU UUID string must be 32 hex characters (with optional hyphens), got {value!r}")
         buf = _ctypes.create_string_buffer(raw, 16)
         buffers.append(buf)
         return driver.CUuuid(_ctypes.addressof(buf))
-    return value
+    raise TypeError("GPU UUID values must be UUID strings")
 
 
 __all__ = [
diff --git a/cuda_core/docs/source/api.rst b/cuda_core/docs/source/api.rst
index 0a88a5bd4b6..7953a623502 100644
--- a/cuda_core/docs/source/api.rst
+++ b/cuda_core/docs/source/api.rst
@@ -241,10 +241,10 @@ should be used during restore. For migration workflows, provide mappings for
 every GPU visible to the NVIDIA kernel-mode driver at checkpoint time.
 User-space masking such as ``CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES`` does not reduce this
 mapping requirement, so applications that rely on user-space GPU masking may
-not be valid migration targets. The mapping may use ``CUuuid`` objects or the
-UUID strings returned by :attr:`Device.uuid`. A successful restore returns the
-process to the locked state; call ``Process.unlock`` after restore to allow
-CUDA API calls to resume.
+not be valid migration targets. The mapping should use the UUID strings
+returned by :attr:`Device.uuid`. A successful restore returns the process to
+the locked state; call ``Process.unlock`` after restore to allow CUDA API
+calls to resume.
 
 The CUDA driver requires restore to run from the process restore thread.
 Use ``Process.restore_thread_id`` to discover that thread before calling