diff --git a/backends/arm/operators/op_bmm.py b/backends/arm/operators/op_bmm.py
index 6dc0ec8002d..69c8283bc8c 100644
--- a/backends/arm/operators/op_bmm.py
+++ b/backends/arm/operators/op_bmm.py
@@ -37,18 +37,24 @@ def define_node(
         inputs: List[TosaArg],
         output: TosaArg,
     ) -> None:
+        if inputs[0].dtype != inputs[1].dtype or inputs[0].dtype != output.dtype:
+            raise TypeError(
+                f"All IO needs to have the same data type, got: "
+                f"{inputs[0].dtype=}, {inputs[1].dtype=} and {output.dtype=}"
+            )
 
-        assert inputs[0].dtype == inputs[1].dtype, "Both inputs must be of same type"
-        assert inputs[0].dtype in [
-            ts.DType.INT8,
-            ts.DType.FP32,
-        ], "Only int8 and float32 supported"
-        # aten.bmm maps directly to MATMUL
         # NOTE: For now, only INT8 & FP32 is supported
+        supported_dtypes = [ts.DType.INT8, ts.DType.FP32]
+        for input in inputs:
+            if input.dtype not in supported_dtypes:
+                raise TypeError(
+                    f'IO data type needs to be {supported_dtypes}, got "{input.dtype}"'
+                )
+
+        # aten.bmm maps directly to MATMUL
 
         # For INT8, we need to get the zero points and add an intermediate tensor
         # for a later rescale.
-
         if inputs[0].dtype == ts.DType.INT8:
             input_qparams = get_input_qparams(node)
             input0_zp = input_qparams[0].zp