diff --git a/async_producer.go b/async_producer.go
index a5aebf15c..f629a6a2e 100644
--- a/async_producer.go
+++ b/async_producer.go
@@ -449,8 +449,10 @@ func (p *asyncProducer) dispatcher() {
 			p.returnError(msg, ConfigurationError("Producing headers requires Kafka at least v0.11"))
 			continue
 		}
-		if msg.ByteSize(version) > p.conf.Producer.MaxMessageBytes {
-			p.returnError(msg, ErrMessageSizeTooLarge)
+
+		size := msg.ByteSize(version)
+		if size > p.conf.Producer.MaxMessageBytes {
+			p.returnError(msg, ConfigurationError(fmt.Sprintf("Attempt to produce message larger than configured Producer.MaxMessageBytes: %d > %d", size, p.conf.Producer.MaxMessageBytes)))
 			continue
 		}