diff --git a/src/libexpr-tests/trivial.cc b/src/libexpr-tests/trivial.cc
index a287ce4d1..d112c269a 100644
--- a/src/libexpr-tests/trivial.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr-tests/trivial.cc
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include "nix/expr/tests/libexpr.hh"
+#include "nix/util/tests/gmock-matchers.hh"
 
 namespace nix {
 // Testing of trivial expressions
@@ -160,7 +161,8 @@ TEST_F(TrivialExpressionTest, assertPassed)
     ASSERT_THAT(v, IsIntEq(123));
 }
 
-class AttrSetMergeTrvialExpressionTest : public TrivialExpressionTest, public testing::WithParamInterface<const char *>
+class AttrSetMergeTrvialExpressionTest : public TrivialExpressionTest,
+                                         public ::testing::WithParamInterface<const char *>
 {};
 
 TEST_P(AttrSetMergeTrvialExpressionTest, attrsetMergeLazy)
@@ -196,7 +198,7 @@ TEST_P(AttrSetMergeTrvialExpressionTest, attrsetMergeLazy)
 INSTANTIATE_TEST_SUITE_P(
     attrsetMergeLazy,
     AttrSetMergeTrvialExpressionTest,
-    testing::Values("{ a.b = 1; a.c = 2; }", "{ a = { b = 1; }; a = { c = 2; }; }"));
+    ::testing::Values("{ a.b = 1; a.c = 2; }", "{ a = { b = 1; }; a = { c = 2; }; }"));
 
 // The following macros ultimately define 48 tests (16 variations on three
 // templates). Each template tests an expression that can be written in 2^4
@@ -339,4 +341,18 @@ TEST_F(TrivialExpressionTest, orCantBeUsed)
 {
     ASSERT_THROW(eval("let or = 1; in or"), Error);
 }
+
+TEST_F(TrivialExpressionTest, tooManyFormals)
+{
+    std::string expr = "let f = { ";
+    for (uint32_t i = 0; i <= std::numeric_limits<uint16_t>::max(); ++i) {
+        expr += fmt("arg%d, ", i);
+    }
+    expr += " }: 0 in; f {}";
+    ASSERT_THAT(
+        [&]() { eval(expr); },
+        ::testing::ThrowsMessage<Error>(::nix::testing::HasSubstrIgnoreANSIMatcher(
+            "too many formal arguments, implementation supports at most 65535")));
+}
+
 } /* namespace nix */
diff --git a/src/libexpr/include/nix/expr/nixexpr.hh b/src/libexpr/include/nix/expr/nixexpr.hh
index 4962c7857..fd7ed2a67 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/include/nix/expr/nixexpr.hh
+++ b/src/libexpr/include/nix/expr/nixexpr.hh
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 #include "nix/expr/eval-error.hh"
 #include "nix/util/pos-idx.hh"
 #include "nix/expr/counter.hh"
+#include "nix/util/pos-table.hh"
+#include "nix/util/error.hh"
 
 namespace nix {
 
@@ -535,6 +537,7 @@ public:
     DocComment docComment;
 
     ExprLambda(
+        const PosTable & positions,
         std::pmr::polymorphic_allocator<char> & alloc,
         PosIdx pos,
         Symbol arg,
@@ -548,7 +551,15 @@ public:
         , formalsStart(alloc.allocate_object<Formal>(nFormals))
         , body(body)
     {
-        std::ranges::copy(formals.formals, formalsStart);
+        if (formals.formals.size() > nFormals) [[unlikely]] {
+            auto err = Error(
+                "too many formal arguments, implementation supports at most %1%",
+                std::numeric_limits<decltype(nFormals)>::max());
+            if (pos)
+                err.atPos(positions[pos]);
+            throw err;
+        }
+        std::uninitialized_copy_n(formals.formals.begin(), nFormals, formalsStart);
     };
 
     ExprLambda(PosIdx pos, Symbol arg, Expr * body)
@@ -560,8 +571,13 @@ public:
         , formalsStart(nullptr)
         , body(body) {};
 
-    ExprLambda(std::pmr::polymorphic_allocator<char> & alloc, PosIdx pos, FormalsBuilder formals, Expr * body)
-        : ExprLambda(alloc, pos, Symbol(), formals, body) {};
+    ExprLambda(
+        const PosTable & positions,
+        std::pmr::polymorphic_allocator<char> & alloc,
+        PosIdx pos,
+        FormalsBuilder formals,
+        Expr * body)
+        : ExprLambda(positions, alloc, pos, Symbol(), formals, body) {};
 
     void setName(Symbol name) override;
     std::string showNamePos(const EvalState & state) const;
diff --git a/src/libexpr/parser.y b/src/libexpr/parser.y
index 02fc4c3b6..29586ed98 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/parser.y
+++ b/src/libexpr/parser.y
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ expr_function
   | formal_set ':' expr_function[body]
     {
       state->validateFormals($formal_set);
-      auto me = new ExprLambda(state->alloc, CUR_POS, std::move($formal_set), $body);
+      auto me = new ExprLambda(state->positions, state->alloc, CUR_POS, std::move($formal_set), $body);
       $$ = me;
       SET_DOC_POS(me, @1);
     }
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ expr_function
     {
       auto arg = state->symbols.create($ID);
       state->validateFormals($formal_set, CUR_POS, arg);
-      auto me = new ExprLambda(state->alloc, CUR_POS, arg, std::move($formal_set), $body);
+      auto me = new ExprLambda(state->positions, state->alloc, CUR_POS, arg, std::move($formal_set), $body);
       $$ = me;
       SET_DOC_POS(me, @1);
     }
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ expr_function
     {
       auto arg = state->symbols.create($ID);
       state->validateFormals($formal_set, CUR_POS, arg);
-      auto me = new ExprLambda(state->alloc, CUR_POS, arg, std::move($formal_set), $body);
+      auto me = new ExprLambda(state->positions, state->alloc, CUR_POS, arg, std::move($formal_set), $body);
       $$ = me;
       SET_DOC_POS(me, @1);
     }