diff --git a/tokio/src/runtime/time/entry.rs b/tokio/src/runtime/time/entry.rs
index 3b8907add7d..96284122e2c 100644
--- a/tokio/src/runtime/time/entry.rs
+++ b/tokio/src/runtime/time/entry.rs
@@ -172,7 +172,9 @@ impl StateCell {
         let mut cur_state = self.state.load(Ordering::Relaxed);
 
         loop {
-            debug_assert!(cur_state < STATE_MIN_VALUE);
+            // improve the error message for things like
+            // https://github.com/tokio-rs/tokio/issues/3675
+            assert!(cur_state < STATE_MIN_VALUE, "mark_pending called when the timer entry is deregistered or in pending fire");
 
             if cur_state > not_after {
                 break Err(cur_state);