diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.cc b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
index 6955aacbf..0d9226d3b 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
@@ -1660,7 +1660,7 @@ void EvalState::callFunction(Value & fun, size_t nrArgs, Value * * args, Value &
                         (lambda.name
                             ? concatStrings("'", symbols[lambda.name], "'")
                             : "anonymous lambda"));
-                    addErrorTrace(e, pos, "from call site%s", "");
+                    addErrorTrace(e, pos, "while evaluating call site%s", "");
                 }
                 throw;
             }
diff --git a/src/libexpr/flake/flake.cc b/src/libexpr/flake/flake.cc
index 6b5d6f6b3..6344fb253 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/flake/flake.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/flake/flake.cc
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ static FlakeInput parseFlakeInput(EvalState & state,
         } catch (Error & e) {
             e.addTrace(
                 state.positions[attr.pos],
-                hintfmt("in flake attribute '%s'", state.symbols[attr.name]));
+                hintfmt("while evaluating flake attribute '%s'", state.symbols[attr.name]));
             throw;
         }
     }
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ static FlakeInput parseFlakeInput(EvalState & state,
         try {
             input.ref = FlakeRef::fromAttrs(attrs);
         } catch (Error & e) {
-            e.addTrace(state.positions[pos], hintfmt("in flake input"));
+            e.addTrace(state.positions[pos], hintfmt("while evaluating flake input"));
             throw;
         }
     else {
diff --git a/src/libutil/error.cc b/src/libutil/error.cc
index 9172f67a6..3bb3efb0e 100644
--- a/src/libutil/error.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/error.cc
@@ -262,6 +262,28 @@ std::ostream & showErrorInfo(std::ostream & out, const ErrorInfo & einfo, bool s
         prefix += ":" ANSI_NORMAL " ";
 
     std::ostringstream oss;
+
+    // traces
+    if (showTrace && !einfo.traces.empty()) {
+        for (const auto & trace : einfo.traces) {
+            oss << "\n" << "… " << trace.hint.str() << "\n";
+
+            if (trace.pos.has_value() && (*trace.pos)) {
+                auto pos = trace.pos.value();
+                oss << "\n";
+                printAtPos(pos, oss);
+
+                auto loc = getCodeLines(pos);
+                if (loc.has_value()) {
+                    oss << "\n";
+                    printCodeLines(oss, "", pos, *loc);
+                    oss << "\n";
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        oss << "\n" << prefix;
+    }
+
     oss << einfo.msg << "\n";
 
     if (einfo.errPos.has_value() && *einfo.errPos) {
@@ -285,26 +307,6 @@ std::ostream & showErrorInfo(std::ostream & out, const ErrorInfo & einfo, bool s
             "?" << std::endl;
     }
 
-    // traces
-    if (showTrace && !einfo.traces.empty()) {
-        for (auto iter = einfo.traces.rbegin(); iter != einfo.traces.rend(); ++iter) {
-            oss << "\n" << "… " << iter->hint.str() << "\n";
-
-            if (iter->pos.has_value() && (*iter->pos)) {
-                auto pos = iter->pos.value();
-                oss << "\n";
-                printAtPos(pos, oss);
-
-                auto loc = getCodeLines(pos);
-                if (loc.has_value()) {
-                    oss << "\n";
-                    printCodeLines(oss, "", pos, *loc);
-                    oss << "\n";
-                }
-            }
-        }
-    }
-
     out << indent(prefix, std::string(filterANSIEscapes(prefix, true).size(), ' '), chomp(oss.str()));
 
     return out;