diff --git a/pkg/sql/catalog/descs/leased_descriptors.go b/pkg/sql/catalog/descs/leased_descriptors.go
index 4daa0794e944..0ebb2d3b5c96 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/catalog/descs/leased_descriptors.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/catalog/descs/leased_descriptors.go
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ func (ld *leasedDescriptors) getResult(
 	expiration := ldesc.Expiration(ctx)
 	readTimestamp := txn.ReadTimestamp()
 	if expiration.LessEq(txn.ReadTimestamp()) {
-		log.Fatalf(ctx, "bad descriptor for T=%s, expiration=%s", readTimestamp, expiration)
+		return nil, false, errors.AssertionFailedf("bad descriptor for id=%d readTimestamp=%s, expiration=%s", ldesc.GetID(), readTimestamp, expiration)
 	}
 
 	ld.cache.Upsert(ldesc, ldesc.Underlying().SkipNamespace())