diff --git a/beacon_chain/spec/datatypes.nim b/beacon_chain/spec/datatypes.nim
index 51e2e749d..df513cc13 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/spec/datatypes.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/spec/datatypes.nim
@@ -613,7 +613,7 @@ chronicles.formatIt CrossLink: it.shortLog
 static:
   # Ensure that get_crosslink_committee(...) can access all committees, which
   # requires that SHARD_COUNT >= get_committee_count(...)
-  doAssert SHARD_COUNT >= SLOTS_PER_EPOCH
+  doAssert SHARD_COUNT >= SLOTS_PER_EPOCH, "Shard count should exceed number of slots per epoch"
 
 import nimcrypto, json_serialization
 export json_serialization