diff --git a/experimental/zerotrie/src/builder/konst/store.rs b/experimental/zerotrie/src/builder/konst/store.rs
index e70c0575313..73c72290b38 100644
--- a/experimental/zerotrie/src/builder/konst/store.rs
+++ b/experimental/zerotrie/src/builder/konst/store.rs
@@ -163,7 +163,14 @@ impl<const N: usize, T: Copy> ConstArrayBuilder<N, T> {
     /// fully initialized.
     pub const fn const_take_or_panic(self) -> [T; N] {
         if self.start != 0 || self.limit != N {
-            panic!("AsciiTrieBuilder buffer too large");
+            let actual_len = self.limit - self.start;
+            const PREFIX: &[u8; 31] = b"Buffer too large. Size needed: ";
+            let len_bytes: [u8; PREFIX.len() + crate::helpers::MAX_USIZE_LEN_AS_DIGITS] =
+                crate::helpers::const_fmt_int(*PREFIX, actual_len);
+            let Ok(len_str) = core::str::from_utf8(&len_bytes) else {
+                unreachable!()
+            };
+            panic!("{}", len_str);
         }
         self.full_array
     }
@@ -171,7 +178,7 @@ impl<const N: usize, T: Copy> ConstArrayBuilder<N, T> {
     /// Prepends an element to the front of the builder, panicking if there is no room.
     pub const fn const_push_front_or_panic(mut self, value: T) -> Self {
         if self.start == 0 {
-            panic!("AsciiTrieBuilder buffer too small");
+            panic!("Buffer too small");
         }
         self.start -= 1;
         self.full_array[self.start] = value;
@@ -181,7 +188,7 @@ impl<const N: usize, T: Copy> ConstArrayBuilder<N, T> {
     /// Prepends multiple elements to the front of the builder, panicking if there is no room.
     pub const fn const_extend_front_or_panic(mut self, other: ConstSlice<T>) -> Self {
         if self.start < other.len() {
-            panic!("AsciiTrieBuilder buffer too small");
+            panic!("Buffer too small");
         }
         self.start -= other.len();
         let mut i = self.start;
diff --git a/experimental/zerotrie/src/builder/mod.rs b/experimental/zerotrie/src/builder/mod.rs
index ac4fc36b56b..8086cc14dbd 100644
--- a/experimental/zerotrie/src/builder/mod.rs
+++ b/experimental/zerotrie/src/builder/mod.rs
@@ -159,7 +159,13 @@ use super::ZeroTrieSimpleAscii;
 impl<const N: usize> ZeroTrieSimpleAscii<[u8; N]> {
     /// **Const Constructor:** Creates an [`ZeroTrieSimpleAscii`] from a sorted slice of keys and values.
     ///
-    /// This function needs to know the exact length of the resulting trie at compile time.
+    /// This function needs to know the exact length of the resulting trie at compile time. To
+    /// figure out `N`, first set `N` to be too large (say 0xFFFF), then look at the resulting
+    /// compile error which will tell you how to set `N`, like this:
+    ///
+    /// > the evaluated program panicked at 'Buffer too large. Size needed: 17'
+    ///
+    /// That error message says you need to set `N` to 17.
     ///
     /// Also see [`Self::from_sorted_str_tuples`].
     ///
@@ -213,7 +219,7 @@ impl<const N: usize> ZeroTrieSimpleAscii<[u8; N]> {
     /// Panics if capacity is too large:
     ///
     /// ```compile_fail
-    /// # use zerotrie::{ZeroTrieSimpleAscii, AsciiStr};
+    /// # use zerotrie::ZeroTrieSimpleAscii;
     /// const TRIE: ZeroTrieSimpleAscii<[u8; 20]> = ZeroTrieSimpleAscii::from_sorted_u8_tuples(&[
     ///     (b"bar", 2),
     ///     (b"bazzoo", 3),
@@ -232,7 +238,13 @@ impl<const N: usize> ZeroTrieSimpleAscii<[u8; N]> {
 
     /// **Const Constructor:** Creates an [`ZeroTrieSimpleAscii`] from a sorted slice of keys and values.
     ///
-    /// This function needs to know the exact length of the resulting trie at compile time.
+    /// This function needs to know the exact length of the resulting trie at compile time. To
+    /// figure out `N`, first set `N` to be too large (say 0xFFFF), then look at the resulting
+    /// compile error which will tell you how to set `N`, like this:
+    ///
+    /// > the evaluated program panicked at 'Buffer too large. Size needed: 17'
+    ///
+    /// That error message says you need to set `N` to 17.
     ///
     /// Also see [`Self::from_sorted_u8_tuples`].
     ///
diff --git a/experimental/zerotrie/src/helpers.rs b/experimental/zerotrie/src/helpers.rs
index 4bb3abe2ca1..0d24f229138 100644
--- a/experimental/zerotrie/src/helpers.rs
+++ b/experimental/zerotrie/src/helpers.rs
@@ -87,3 +87,50 @@ macro_rules! debug_unwrap {
 }
 
 pub(crate) use debug_unwrap;
+
+/// The maximum number of base-10 digits required for rendering a usize.
+/// Note: 24/10 is an approximation of 8*log10(2)
+pub(crate) const MAX_USIZE_LEN_AS_DIGITS: usize = core::mem::size_of::<usize>() * 24 / 10 + 1;
+
+/// Formats a usize as a string of length N, padded with spaces,
+/// with the given prefix.
+///
+/// If the string is too short, the function may panic. To prevent
+/// this, N should be MAX_USIZE_LEN_AS_DIGITS larger than M.
+pub(crate) const fn const_fmt_int<const M: usize, const N: usize>(
+    prefix: [u8; M],
+    value: usize,
+) -> [u8; N] {
+    let mut output = [b' '; N];
+    let mut i = 0;
+    while i < M {
+        output[i] = prefix[i];
+        i += 1;
+    }
+    let mut int_only = [b' '; MAX_USIZE_LEN_AS_DIGITS];
+    let mut value = value;
+    let mut i = MAX_USIZE_LEN_AS_DIGITS - 1;
+    loop {
+        let x = (value % 10) as u8;
+        int_only[i] = x + b'0';
+        value /= 10;
+        if value == 0 {
+            break;
+        }
+        i -= 1;
+    }
+    let mut j = M;
+    while i < MAX_USIZE_LEN_AS_DIGITS {
+        output[j] = int_only[i];
+        j += 1;
+        i += 1;
+    }
+    output
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_const_fmt_int() {
+    assert_eq!(*b"123", const_fmt_int::<0, 3>(*b"", 123));
+    assert_eq!(*b"123   ", const_fmt_int::<0, 6>(*b"", 123));
+    assert_eq!(*b"abc123", const_fmt_int::<3, 6>(*b"abc", 123));
+}