diff --git a/src/ConservationChecker.jl b/src/ConservationChecker.jl
index 52198d6a5f..b4a4f8307e 100644
--- a/src/ConservationChecker.jl
+++ b/src/ConservationChecker.jl
@@ -282,7 +282,8 @@ function plot_global_conservation(
 
     # check that the relative error is small (TODO: reduce this to sqrt(eps(FT)))
     if !softfail
-        @assert rse[end] < 1e-3
+        @show rse[end]
+        @assert rse[end] < 1e-3 "Conservation check failed: relative error $(rse[end])"
     end
 end