diff --git a/dist/setup/index.js b/dist/setup/index.js
index ceefc9b6..b08940b0 100644
--- a/dist/setup/index.js
+++ b/dist/setup/index.js
@@ -58061,8 +58061,7 @@ class OfficialBuilds extends base_distribution_1.default {
         catch (err) {
             throw new Error(`Node installation failed. Node may not be installed or not on PATH: ${err.message}`);
         }
-        core.debug(`Expected Node version: ${expectedVersion}`);
-        core.debug(`Actual Node version: ${actualVersion}`);
+        core.debug(`Node installation failed: expected ${expectedVersion} but "node --version" reported ${actualVersion || '(empty)'} (installedDir: ${installedDir}).`);
         if (actualVersion !== expectedVersion) {
             throw new Error(`Node ${expectedVersion} installation failed, likely due to an incomplete or corrupted download.`);
         }
diff --git a/src/distributions/official_builds/official_builds.ts b/src/distributions/official_builds/official_builds.ts
index 3ce10723..6075ac5b 100644
--- a/src/distributions/official_builds/official_builds.ts
+++ b/src/distributions/official_builds/official_builds.ts
@@ -342,8 +342,9 @@ export default class OfficialBuilds extends BaseDistribution {
         `Node installation failed. Node may not be installed or not on PATH: ${(err as Error).message}`
       );
     }
-    core.debug(`Expected Node version: ${expectedVersion}`);
-    core.debug(`Actual Node version: ${actualVersion}`);
+    core.debug(
+      `Node installation failed: expected ${expectedVersion} but "node --version" reported ${actualVersion || '(empty)'} (installedDir: ${installedDir}).`
+    );
     if (actualVersion !== expectedVersion) {
       throw new Error(
         `Node ${expectedVersion} installation failed, likely due to an incomplete or corrupted download.`