diff --git a/src/libexpr/primops.cc b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
index 86cb00131..5f06bf009 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/primops.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/primops.cc
@@ -1420,7 +1420,8 @@ static void derivationStrictInternal(EvalState & state, std::string_view drvName
                         .debugThrow();
                 }
             if (ingestionMethod == ContentAddressMethod::Raw::Text)
-                experimentalFeatureSettings.require(Xp::DynamicDerivations);
+                experimentalFeatureSettings.require(
+                    Xp::DynamicDerivations, fmt("text-hashed derivation '%s', outputHashMode = \"text\"", drvName));
             if (ingestionMethod == ContentAddressMethod::Raw::Git)
                 experimentalFeatureSettings.require(Xp::GitHashing);
         };
diff --git a/src/libstore/derivations.cc b/src/libstore/derivations.cc
index 6d7dbc99c..b5d8d1a1c 100644
--- a/src/libstore/derivations.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/derivations.cc
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ static DerivationOutput parseDerivationOutput(
     if (!hashAlgoStr.empty()) {
         ContentAddressMethod method = ContentAddressMethod::parsePrefix(hashAlgoStr);
         if (method == ContentAddressMethod::Raw::Text)
-            xpSettings.require(Xp::DynamicDerivations);
+            xpSettings.require(Xp::DynamicDerivations, "text-hashed derivation output");
         const auto hashAlgo = parseHashAlgo(hashAlgoStr);
         if (hashS == "impure"sv) {
             xpSettings.require(Xp::ImpureDerivations);
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ Derivation parseDerivation(
         if (*versionS == "xp-dyn-drv"sv) {
             // Only version we have so far
             version = DerivationATermVersion::DynamicDerivations;
-            xpSettings.require(Xp::DynamicDerivations);
+            xpSettings.require(Xp::DynamicDerivations, fmt("derivation '%s', ATerm format version 'xp-dyn-drv'", name));
         } else {
             throw FormatError("Unknown derivation ATerm format version '%s'", *versionS);
         }
@@ -1301,7 +1301,7 @@ DerivationOutput::fromJSON(const nlohmann::json & _json, const ExperimentalFeatu
     auto methodAlgo = [&]() -> std::pair<ContentAddressMethod, HashAlgorithm> {
         ContentAddressMethod method = ContentAddressMethod::parse(getString(valueAt(json, "method")));
         if (method == ContentAddressMethod::Raw::Text)
-            xpSettings.require(Xp::DynamicDerivations);
+            xpSettings.require(Xp::DynamicDerivations, "text-hashed derivation output in JSON");
 
         auto hashAlgo = parseHashAlgo(getString(valueAt(json, "hashAlgo")));
         return {std::move(method), std::move(hashAlgo)};
@@ -1454,7 +1454,7 @@ Derivation Derivation::fromJSON(const nlohmann::json & _json, const Experimental
             node.value = getStringSet(valueAt(json, "outputs"));
             auto drvs = getObject(valueAt(json, "dynamicOutputs"));
             for (auto & [outputId, childNode] : drvs) {
-                xpSettings.require(Xp::DynamicDerivations);
+                xpSettings.require(Xp::DynamicDerivations, fmt("dynamic output '%s' in JSON", outputId));
                 node.childMap[outputId] = doInput(childNode);
             }
             return node;
diff --git a/src/libstore/derived-path.cc b/src/libstore/derived-path.cc
index 2cf720b82..34e591666 100644
--- a/src/libstore/derived-path.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/derived-path.cc
@@ -85,7 +85,11 @@ void drvRequireExperiment(const SingleDerivedPath & drv, const ExperimentalFeatu
             [&](const SingleDerivedPath::Opaque &) {
                 // plain drv path; no experimental features required.
             },
-            [&](const SingleDerivedPath::Built &) { xpSettings.require(Xp::DynamicDerivations); },
+            [&](const SingleDerivedPath::Built & b) {
+                xpSettings.require(
+                    Xp::DynamicDerivations,
+                    fmt("building output '%s' of '%s'", b.output, b.drvPath->getBaseStorePath().to_string()));
+            },
         },
         drv.raw());
 }
diff --git a/src/libstore/downstream-placeholder.cc b/src/libstore/downstream-placeholder.cc
index b3ac1c8c4..30044501b 100644
--- a/src/libstore/downstream-placeholder.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/downstream-placeholder.cc
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ DownstreamPlaceholder DownstreamPlaceholder::unknownDerivation(
     OutputNameView outputName,
     const ExperimentalFeatureSettings & xpSettings)
 {
-    xpSettings.require(Xp::DynamicDerivations);
+    xpSettings.require(Xp::DynamicDerivations, fmt("placeholder for unknown derivation output '%s'", outputName));
     auto compressed = compressHash(placeholder.hash, 20);
     auto clearText =
         "nix-computed-output:" + compressed.to_string(HashFormat::Nix32, false) + ":" + std::string{outputName};