diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index b319203902..c4d549adce 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ jobs:
           name: Build openPMD-api
           command: |
             eval $(spack env activate --sh .github/ci/spack-envs/gcc_py_ompi_h5_ad2_arm64/)
+
+            export CXXFLAGS="-DPYBIND11_DETAILED_ERROR_MESSAGES=1"
+
             cmake -S . -B build \
               -DopenPMD_USE_PYTHON=ON \
               -DopenPMD_USE_MPI=ON    \