diff --git a/src/Lean/Elab/Level.lean b/src/Lean/Elab/Level.lean
index 5acc198755..8eb5b1fa72 100644
--- a/src/Lean/Elab/Level.lean
+++ b/src/Lean/Elab/Level.lean
@@ -56,7 +56,9 @@ register_builtin_option maxUniverseOffset : Nat := {
 private def checkUniverseOffset [Monad m] [MonadError m] [MonadOptions m] (n : Nat) : m Unit := do
   let max := maxUniverseOffset.get (← getOptions)
   unless n <= max do
-    throwError "maximum universe level offset threshold ({max}) has been reached, you can increase the limit using option `set_option maxUniverseOffset <limit>`, but you are probably misusing universe levels since offsets are usually small natural numbers"
+    throwError m!"Universe level offset `{n}` exceeds maximum offset `{max}`"
+      ++ .note m!"This code is probably misusing universe levels, since they are usually small natural numbers. \
+                  If you are confident this is not the case, you can increase the limit using `set_option maxUniverseOffset <limit>`"
 
 partial def elabLevel (stx : Syntax) : LevelElabM Level := withRef stx do
   let kind := stx.getKind
diff --git a/tests/lean/bigUnivOffsets.lean.expected.out b/tests/lean/bigUnivOffsets.lean.expected.out
index 1b0e2dd5e9..9bd74a9126 100644
--- a/tests/lean/bigUnivOffsets.lean.expected.out
+++ b/tests/lean/bigUnivOffsets.lean.expected.out
@@ -1,2 +1,6 @@
-bigUnivOffsets.lean:1:12-1:21: error: maximum universe level offset threshold (32) has been reached, you can increase the limit using option `set_option maxUniverseOffset <limit>`, but you are probably misusing universe levels since offsets are usually small natural numbers
-bigUnivOffsets.lean:5:13-5:25: error: maximum universe level offset threshold (32) has been reached, you can increase the limit using option `set_option maxUniverseOffset <limit>`, but you are probably misusing universe levels since offsets are usually small natural numbers
+bigUnivOffsets.lean:1:12-1:21: error: Universe level offset `100000000` exceeds maximum offset `32`
+
+Note: This code is probably misusing universe levels, since they are usually small natural numbers. If you are confident this is not the case, you can increase the limit using `set_option maxUniverseOffset <limit>`
+bigUnivOffsets.lean:5:13-5:25: error: Universe level offset `10000000` exceeds maximum offset `32`
+
+Note: This code is probably misusing universe levels, since they are usually small natural numbers. If you are confident this is not the case, you can increase the limit using `set_option maxUniverseOffset <limit>`