diff --git a/src/monodroid/jni/monodroid-glue.cc b/src/monodroid/jni/monodroid-glue.cc
index e83eb2324fa..eea121906f1 100644
--- a/src/monodroid/jni/monodroid-glue.cc
+++ b/src/monodroid/jni/monodroid-glue.cc
@@ -917,9 +917,16 @@ MonodroidRuntime::create_domain (JNIEnv *env, jstring_array_wrapper &runtimeApks
 #endif // def NET6
 
 	if (!have_mono_mkbundle_init && user_assemblies_count == 0 && androidSystem.count_override_assemblies () == 0 && !is_running_on_desktop) {
+#if defined (DEBUG)
 		log_fatal (LOG_DEFAULT, "No assemblies found in '%s' or '%s'. Assuming this is part of Fast Deployment. Exiting...",
 		           androidSystem.get_override_dir (0),
 		           (AndroidSystem::MAX_OVERRIDES > 1 && androidSystem.get_override_dir (1) != nullptr) ? androidSystem.get_override_dir (1) : "<unavailable>");
+#else
+		log_fatal (LOG_DEFAULT, "No assemblies (or assembly blobs) were found in the application APK file(s)");
+#endif
+		log_fatal (LOG_DEFAULT, "Make sure that all entries in the APK directory named `assemblies/` are STORED (not compressed)");
+		log_fatal (LOG_DEFAULT, "If Android Gradle Plugin's minification feature is enabled, it is likely all the entries in `assemblies/` are compressed");
+
 		abort ();
 	}