diff --git a/src/node/db/Pad.ts b/src/node/db/Pad.ts
index dba21da275e..06e2a1d9569 100644
--- a/src/node/db/Pad.ts
+++ b/src/node/db/Pad.ts
@@ -51,6 +51,27 @@ type PadSettings = {
   [pluginKey: string]: any;
 };
 
+// Prefixes an error's message with context, keeping `err.stack` in sync.
+//
+// `err.stack` is rendered from the message when the error is constructed, so
+// assigning to `err.message` alone leaves the stack showing the original,
+// context-free text. Everything that reports a failed `pad.check()` logs
+// `err.stack` (Cleanup.checkTodos and the admin `cleanupPadRevisions`
+// handler both do), so without this the pad/revision that actually failed
+// never reaches the log and admins have to bisect the database by hand.
+// See #8134.
+const addErrorContext = (err: Error, context: string): Error => {
+  const oldMessage = err.message;
+  err.message = `${context} ${oldMessage}`;
+  // Only the first occurrence is replaced, which is the message in the
+  // stack's header line. Guard against an empty message: `''` matches at
+  // offset 0 and would corrupt the stack.
+  if (oldMessage && typeof err.stack === 'string' && err.stack.includes(oldMessage)) {
+    err.stack = err.stack.replace(oldMessage, err.message);
+  }
+  return err;
+};
+
 const PLUGIN_KEY_RE = /^ep_[a-z0-9_]+$/;
 // Per-key serialized JSON size cap: ~64 KB. Pad-wide settings are persisted
 // with the pad and broadcast to every connected client on every change, so
@@ -975,8 +996,7 @@ class Pad {
               isKeyRev ? this._getKeyRevisionAText(r) : null,
             ]);
           } catch (err:any) {
-            err.message = `(pad ${this.id} revision ${r}) ${err.message}`;
-            throw err;
+            throw addErrorContext(err, `(pad ${this.id} revision ${r})`);
           }
         })
         .batch(100).buffer(99);
@@ -1014,8 +1034,7 @@ class Pad {
         atext = applyToAText(changeset, atext, pool);
         if (isKeyRev) assert.deepEqual(keyAText, atext);
       } catch (err:any) {
-        err.message = `(pad ${this.id} revision ${r}) ${err.message}`;
-        throw err;
+        throw addErrorContext(err, `(pad ${this.id} revision ${r})`);
       }
     }
     assert.equal(this.text(), atext.text);
@@ -1032,8 +1051,7 @@ class Pad {
             assert(msg != null);
             assert(msg instanceof ChatMessage);
           } catch (err:any) {
-            err.message = `(pad ${this.id} chat message ${c}) ${err.message}`;
-            throw err;
+            throw addErrorContext(err, `(pad ${this.id} chat message ${c})`);
           }
         })
         .batch(100).buffer(99);
diff --git a/src/tests/backend/specs/padCheckErrorContext.ts b/src/tests/backend/specs/padCheckErrorContext.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bbc3a07a740
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/backend/specs/padCheckErrorContext.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+'use strict';
+
+// Regression coverage for #8134.
+//
+// `pad.check()` prefixes failures with `(pad <id> revision <n>)` so admins
+// know which record is bad. Everything that reports a failed check logs
+// `err.stack`, which is rendered from the message at construction time --
+// so assigning to `err.message` alone left the stack (and therefore the
+// log) showing the context-free text. The reporter on #8134 had to bisect
+// their database by hand to find the offending revision.
+
+const assert = require('assert').strict;
+const common = require('../common');
+const padManager = require('../../../node/db/PadManager');
+const db = require('../../../node/db/DB');
+const {deleteRevisions} = require('../../../node/utils/Cleanup');
+const settings = require('../../../node/utils/Settings');
+
+describe(__filename, function () {
+  let padId: string;
+  let cleanupEnabledBackup: boolean;
+
+  before(async function () {
+    await common.init();
+    cleanupEnabledBackup = settings.cleanup.enabled;
+    settings.cleanup.enabled = true;
+  });
+
+  after(function () { settings.cleanup.enabled = cleanupEnabledBackup; });
+
+  beforeEach(async function () {
+    padId = common.randomString();
+    assert(!await padManager.doesPadExist(padId));
+  });
+
+  // Produces the shape reported in #8134: `head` points past a revision
+  // whose `pad:<id>:revs:<n>` record is absent.
+  const padWithMissingRevision = async (missingRev: number) => {
+    const pad = await padManager.getPad(padId);
+    for (let i = 0; i < 6; i++) await pad.appendText(`line ${i}\n`);
+    assert.ok(pad.getHeadRevisionNumber() > missingRev);
+    await db.remove(`pad:${padId}:revs:${missingRev}`, null);
+    padManager.unloadPad(padId);
+    return await padManager.getPad(padId);
+  };
+
+  describe('a missing revision', function () {
+    it('makes check() throw', async function () {
+      const pad = await padWithMissingRevision(3);
+      await assert.rejects(pad.check());
+    });
+
+    it('names the pad and revision in err.message', async function () {
+      const pad = await padWithMissingRevision(3);
+      const err: any = await pad.check().then(() => null, (e: any) => e);
+      assert.ok(err != null, 'expected check() to throw');
+      assert.match(err.message, new RegExp(`\\(pad ${padId} revision 3\\)`));
+    });
+
+    it('names the pad and revision in err.stack too', async function () {
+      // This is what the admin handler and Cleanup.checkTodos actually log.
+      const pad = await padWithMissingRevision(3);
+      const err: any = await pad.check().then(() => null, (e: any) => e);
+      assert.ok(err != null, 'expected check() to throw');
+      assert.match(err.stack, new RegExp(`\\(pad ${padId} revision 3\\)`),
+          `err.stack lost the revision context:\n${err.stack}`);
+    });
+
+    it('does not duplicate the context in the stack', async function () {
+      const pad = await padWithMissingRevision(3);
+      const err: any = await pad.check().then(() => null, (e: any) => e);
+      const occurrences = err.stack.split(`(pad ${padId} revision 3)`).length - 1;
+      assert.equal(occurrences, 1, `context appears ${occurrences}x in the stack`);
+    });
+
+    it('keeps the original assertion text and stack frames', async function () {
+      const pad = await padWithMissingRevision(3);
+      const err: any = await pad.check().then(() => null, (e: any) => e);
+      assert.match(err.stack, /assert\(timestamp != null\)/);
+      assert.match(err.stack, /at Pad\.check/);
+    });
+
+    it('surfaces the revision through deleteRevisions()', async function () {
+      // deleteRevisions() calls pad.check() before touching anything, so
+      // this is the exact path from the issue report.
+      await padWithMissingRevision(3);
+      padManager.unloadPad(padId);
+      const err: any = await deleteRevisions(padId, 2).then(() => null, (e: any) => e);
+      assert.ok(err != null, 'expected deleteRevisions to throw');
+      assert.match(err.stack, new RegExp(`\\(pad ${padId} revision 3\\)`),
+          `err.stack lost the revision context:\n${err.stack}`);
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('adds context for a bad chat message as well', async function () {
+    const pad = await padManager.getPad(padId);
+    await pad.appendText('hello\n');
+    const author = await common.randomString();
+    await pad.appendChatMessage({text: 'hi', authorId: author, time: Date.now()});
+    await db.remove(`pad:${padId}:chat:0`, null);
+    padManager.unloadPad(padId);
+
+    const reloaded = await padManager.getPad(padId);
+    const err: any = await reloaded.check().then(() => null, (e: any) => e);
+    assert.ok(err != null, 'expected check() to throw');
+    assert.match(err.stack, new RegExp(`\\(pad ${padId} chat message 0\\)`),
+        `err.stack lost the chat context:\n${err.stack}`);
+  });
+});