diff --git a/std-bits/base/src/main/java/org/enso/base/cache/LRUCache.java b/std-bits/base/src/main/java/org/enso/base/cache/LRUCache.java
index 4e17b51565..9368cfe74e 100644
--- a/std-bits/base/src/main/java/org/enso/base/cache/LRUCache.java
+++ b/std-bits/base/src/main/java/org/enso/base/cache/LRUCache.java
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ public class LRUCache<M> {
    */
   private CacheResult<M> makeRequestAndCache(String cacheKey, ItemBuilder<M> itemBuilder)
       throws IOException, InterruptedException, ResponseTooLargeException {
-    assert !cache.containsKey(cacheKey);
+    assert !cache.containsKey(cacheKey) : "Cache should not contain key " + cacheKey;
 
     Item<M> item = itemBuilder.buildItem();
 
@@ -135,7 +135,9 @@ public class LRUCache<M> {
       return getResultForCacheEntry(cacheKey);
     } catch (IOException e) {
       logger.log(
-          Level.WARNING, "Failure storing cache entry; will re-execute without caching: {}", e);
+          Level.WARNING,
+          "Failure storing cache entry; will re-execute without caching: {}",
+          e.getMessage());
       // Re-issue the request since we don't know if we've consumed any of the response.
       Item<M> rerequested = itemBuilder.buildItem();
       return new CacheResult<>(rerequested.stream(), rerequested.metadata());
@@ -255,7 +257,8 @@ public class LRUCache<M> {
       toRemove.add(mapEntry);
       totalSize -= mapEntry.getValue().size();
     }
-    assert totalSize <= maxTotalCacheSize;
+    assert totalSize <= maxTotalCacheSize
+        : "totalSize > maxTotalCacheSize (" + totalSize + " > " + maxTotalCacheSize + ")";
     removeCacheEntries(toRemove);
   }
 
diff --git a/std-bits/base/src/main/java/org/enso/base/cache/LRUCacheSettings.java b/std-bits/base/src/main/java/org/enso/base/cache/LRUCacheSettings.java
index 2678b9add3..ef5075a453 100644
--- a/std-bits/base/src/main/java/org/enso/base/cache/LRUCacheSettings.java
+++ b/std-bits/base/src/main/java/org/enso/base/cache/LRUCacheSettings.java
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ public class LRUCacheSettings {
           "Unable to parse environment variable "
               + MAX_FILE_SIZE_ENV_VAR
               + ": {}, falling back to default",
-          e);
+          e.getMessage());
       return DEFAULT_MAX_FILE_SIZE;
     }
   }
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ public class LRUCacheSettings {
           "Unable to parse environment variable "
               + TOTAL_CACHE_SIZE_ENV_VAR
               + ": {}, falling back to default",
-          e);
+          e.getMessage());
       return new TotalCacheLimit.Percentage(DEFAULT_TOTAL_CACHE_SIZE_FREE_SPACE_PERCENTAGE);
     }
   }