diff --git a/src/helpers.rs b/src/helpers.rs
index c290c7e..0243f28 100644
--- a/src/helpers.rs
+++ b/src/helpers.rs
@@ -27,14 +27,6 @@ pub(crate) fn may_deserialize<T: DeserializeOwned>(
     }
 }
 
-/// must_deserialize parses json bytes from storage (Option), returning NotFound error if no data present
-pub(crate) fn must_deserialize<T: DeserializeOwned>(value: &Option<Vec<u8>>) -> StdResult<T> {
-    match value {
-        Some(vec) => from_slice(vec),
-        None => Err(StdError::not_found(type_name::<T>())),
-    }
-}
-
 /// This is equivalent concat(to_length_prefixed_nested(namespaces), key)
 /// But more efficient when the intermediate namespaces often must be recalculated
 pub(crate) fn namespaces_with_key(namespaces: &[&[u8]], key: &[u8]) -> Vec<u8> {
@@ -120,10 +112,16 @@ pub(crate) fn query_raw<Q: CustomQuery>(
     }
 }
 
+/// Returns a debug identifier to explain what was not found
+pub(crate) fn not_found_object_info<T>(key: &[u8]) -> String {
+    let type_name = type_name::<T>();
+    format!("type: {type_name}; key: {:02X?}", key)
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test {
     use super::*;
-    use cosmwasm_std::{to_vec, StdError};
+    use cosmwasm_std::{to_vec, Uint128};
     use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
     #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq, Debug)]
@@ -169,26 +167,18 @@ mod test {
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn must_deserialize_handles_some() {
-        let person = Person {
-            name: "Maria".to_string(),
-            age: 42,
-        };
-        let value = to_vec(&person).unwrap();
-        let loaded = Some(value);
-
-        let parsed: Person = must_deserialize(&loaded).unwrap();
-        assert_eq!(parsed, person);
-    }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn must_deserialize_handles_none() {
-        let parsed = must_deserialize::<Person>(&None);
-        match parsed.unwrap_err() {
-            StdError::NotFound { kind, .. } => {
-                assert_eq!(kind, "cw_storage_plus::helpers::test::Person")
-            }
-            e => panic!("Unexpected error {}", e),
-        }
+    fn not_found_object_info_works() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            not_found_object_info::<Person>(&[0xaa, 0xBB]),
+            "type: cw_storage_plus::helpers::test::Person; key: [AA, BB]"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            not_found_object_info::<Person>(&[]),
+            "type: cw_storage_plus::helpers::test::Person; key: []"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            not_found_object_info::<Uint128>(b"foo"),
+            "type: cosmwasm_std::math::uint128::Uint128; key: [66, 6F, 6F]"
+        );
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/item.rs b/src/item.rs
index 70397fd..1f61526 100644
--- a/src/item.rs
+++ b/src/item.rs
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@ use serde::Serialize;
 use std::marker::PhantomData;
 
 use cosmwasm_std::{
-    to_vec, Addr, CustomQuery, QuerierWrapper, StdError, StdResult, Storage, WasmQuery,
+    from_slice, to_vec, Addr, CustomQuery, QuerierWrapper, StdError, StdResult, Storage, WasmQuery,
 };
 
-use crate::helpers::{may_deserialize, must_deserialize};
+use crate::helpers::{may_deserialize, not_found_object_info};
 
 /// Item stores one typed item at the given key.
 /// This is an analog of Singleton.
@@ -48,8 +48,12 @@ where
 
     /// load will return an error if no data is set at the given key, or on parse error
     pub fn load(&self, store: &dyn Storage) -> StdResult<T> {
-        let value = store.get(self.storage_key);
-        must_deserialize(&value)
+        if let Some(value) = store.get(self.storage_key) {
+            from_slice(&value)
+        } else {
+            let object_info = not_found_object_info::<T>(self.storage_key);
+            Err(StdError::not_found(object_info))
+        }
     }
 
     /// may_load will parse the data stored at the key if present, returns `Ok(None)` if no data there.
diff --git a/src/path.rs b/src/path.rs
index e6a3cb5..7b5b7eb 100644
--- a/src/path.rs
+++ b/src/path.rs
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ use serde::de::DeserializeOwned;
 use serde::Serialize;
 use std::marker::PhantomData;
 
-use crate::helpers::{may_deserialize, must_deserialize, nested_namespaces_with_key};
+use crate::helpers::{may_deserialize, nested_namespaces_with_key, not_found_object_info};
 use crate::keys::Key;
-use cosmwasm_std::{to_vec, StdError, StdResult, Storage};
+use cosmwasm_std::{from_slice, to_vec, StdError, StdResult, Storage};
 use std::ops::Deref;
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
@@ -62,8 +62,12 @@ where
 
     /// load will return an error if no data is set at the given key, or on parse error
     pub fn load(&self, store: &dyn Storage) -> StdResult<T> {
-        let value = store.get(&self.storage_key);
-        must_deserialize(&value)
+        if let Some(value) = store.get(&self.storage_key) {
+            from_slice(&value)
+        } else {
+            let object_info = not_found_object_info::<T>(&self.storage_key);
+            Err(StdError::not_found(object_info))
+        }
     }
 
     /// may_load will parse the data stored at the key if present, returns Ok(None) if no data there.