diff --git a/src/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc b/src/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc
index d1ec91ed5..79a241ae0 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc
@@ -845,18 +845,43 @@ void LocalDerivationGoal::startBuilder()
                 /* Some distros patch Linux to not allow unprivileged
                  * user namespaces. If we get EPERM or EINVAL, try
                  * without CLONE_NEWUSER and see if that works.
+                 * Details: https://salsa.debian.org/kernel-team/linux/-/commit/d98e00eda6bea437e39b9e80444eee84a32438a6
                  */
                 usingUserNamespace = false;
                 flags &= ~CLONE_NEWUSER;
                 child = clone(childEntry, stack + stackSize, flags, this);
             }
-            /* Otherwise exit with EPERM so we can handle this in the
-               parent. This is only done when sandbox-fallback is set
-               to true (the default). */
-            if (child == -1 && (errno == EPERM || errno == EINVAL) && settings.sandboxFallback)
-                _exit(1);
-            if (child == -1) throw SysError("cloning builder process");
-
+            if (child == -1) {
+                switch(errno) {
+                    case EPERM:
+                    case EINVAL: {
+                        int errno_ = errno;
+                        if (!userNamespacesEnabled && errno==EPERM)
+                            notice("user namespaces appear to be disabled; they are required for sandboxing; check /proc/sys/user/max_user_namespaces");
+                        if (userNamespacesEnabled) {
+                            Path procSysKernelUnprivilegedUsernsClone = "/proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_userns_clone";
+                            if (pathExists(procSysKernelUnprivilegedUsernsClone)
+                                && trim(readFile(procSysKernelUnprivilegedUsernsClone)) == "0") {
+                                notice("user namespaces appear to be disabled; they are required for sandboxing; check /proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_userns_clone");
+                            }
+                        }
+                        Path procSelfNsUser = "/proc/self/ns/user";
+                        if (!pathExists(procSelfNsUser))
+                            notice("/proc/self/ns/user does not exist; your kernel was likely built without CONFIG_USER_NS=y, which is required for sandboxing");
+                        /* Otherwise exit with EPERM so we can handle this in the
+                           parent. This is only done when sandbox-fallback is set
+                           to true (the default). */
+                        if (settings.sandboxFallback)
+                            _exit(1);
+                        /* Mention sandbox-fallback in the error message so the user
+                           knows that having it disabled contributed to the
+                           unrecoverability of this failure */
+                        throw SysError(errno_, "creating sandboxed builder process using clone(), without sandbox-fallback");
+                    }
+                    default:
+                        throw SysError("creating sandboxed builder process using clone()");
+                }
+            }
             writeFull(builderOut.writeSide.get(),
                 fmt("%d %d\n", usingUserNamespace, child));
             _exit(0);
diff --git a/src/libutil/error.hh b/src/libutil/error.hh
index a53e9802e..3d1479c54 100644
--- a/src/libutil/error.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/error.hh
@@ -204,13 +204,19 @@ public:
     int errNo;
 
     template<typename... Args>
-    SysError(const Args & ... args)
+    SysError(int errNo_, const Args & ... args)
         : Error("")
     {
-        errNo = errno;
+        errNo = errNo_;
         auto hf = hintfmt(args...);
         err.msg = hintfmt("%1%: %2%", normaltxt(hf.str()), strerror(errNo));
     }
+
+    template<typename... Args>
+    SysError(const Args & ... args)
+        : SysError(errno, args ...)
+    {
+    }
 };
 
 }