diff --git a/lib/core/src/Cardano/Pool/DB/Sqlite.hs b/lib/core/src/Cardano/Pool/DB/Sqlite.hs
index 3c3d96c2be0..70b3ba07693 100644
--- a/lib/core/src/Cardano/Pool/DB/Sqlite.hs
+++ b/lib/core/src/Cardano/Pool/DB/Sqlite.hs
@@ -212,8 +212,12 @@ newDBLayer trace fp timeInterpreter = do
             pure (foldl' toMap Map.empty production)
 
         readTotalProduction =
-            Map.fromList . rights . fmap parseRow <$> rawSql query []
+            Map.fromList . fmap (assertSuccess . parseRow) <$> rawSql query []
           where
+            assertSuccess = flip either id $ \e -> error $ mconcat
+                [ "readTotalProduction: unexpected parse failure: "
+                , show e
+                ]
             query = T.unwords
                 [ "SELECT pool_id, count(pool_id) as block_count"
                 , "FROM pool_production"