diff --git a/Lib/test/test_exceptions.py b/Lib/test/test_exceptions.py
index 6c09c1793c8..b738ec6a032 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_exceptions.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_exceptions.py
@@ -1448,7 +1448,8 @@ class ExceptionTests(unittest.TestCase):
         """
         rc, out, err = script_helper.assert_python_failure("-c", code)
         self.assertEqual(rc, 1)
-        self.assertIn(b'RecursionError: maximum recursion depth exceeded', err)
+        expected = b'RecursionError: maximum recursion depth exceeded'
+        self.assertTrue(expected in err, msg=f"{expected!r} not found in {err[:3_000]!r}... (truncated)")
         self.assertIn(b'Done.', out)