diff --git a/src/internal.c b/src/internal.c
index e2cd1230..31e8c6ff 100644
--- a/src/internal.c
+++ b/src/internal.c
@@ -98,6 +98,14 @@
 
 #include <wolfssl/wolfcrypt/coding.h>
 
+
+/* The #error in internal.h can't compare the two: the expression's terms are
+ * enum constants that #if reads as zero. Here both are ordinary constant
+ * expressions, so a term added without bumping the literal fails the build. */
+typedef char wolfSSH_channel_overhead_check[
+        (CHANNEL_PACKET_OVERHEAD_SZ <= CHANNEL_PACKET_OVERHEAD_MAX) ? 1 : -1];
+
+
 /*
 Flags:
   HAVE_WC_ECC_SET_RNG
diff --git a/wolfssh/internal.h b/wolfssh/internal.h
index 0b1d9e48..f50a28c8 100644
--- a/wolfssh/internal.h
+++ b/wolfssh/internal.h
@@ -741,14 +741,11 @@ WOLFSSH_LOCAL int CheckAlgoList(const char* list, byte type);
  * block size first to decrypt to find the size of
  * the rest of the data. */
 
-/* What a channel data packet carries besides its payload: the transport
- * framing, the larger of the two channel data headers (CHANNEL_EXTENDED_DATA),
- * the worst-case padding BundlePacket() can pick, and the largest MAC.
- * The MAC term is the one that varies, so it is spelled twice: once with
- * MAX_HMAC_SZ for the compiler, and once as a literal 64, the largest
- * wolfCrypt digest, for the preprocessor. AES_BLOCK_SIZE and MAX_HMAC_SZ are
- * wolfCrypt enum constants, which #if reads as zero, so the #error below
- * cannot use the macro form. Both come to 4+1+1+8+4+19+64 = 101. */
+/* Channel data packet overhead: transport framing, the larger channel data
+ * header (CHANNEL_EXTENDED_DATA), worst-case BundlePacket() padding, and the
+ * largest MAC. Spelled twice because AES_BLOCK_SIZE and MAX_HMAC_SZ are enum
+ * constants that #if reads as zero. The literal is a ceiling: 101 with a
+ * 64-byte MAC, less with a smaller digest. */
 #define CHANNEL_PACKET_OVERHEAD_SZ \
         (LENGTH_SZ + PAD_LENGTH_SZ \
          + MSG_ID_SZ + (UINT32_SZ * 2) + LENGTH_SZ \
@@ -757,15 +754,12 @@ WOLFSSH_LOCAL int CheckAlgoList(const char* list, byte type);
 #define CHANNEL_PACKET_OVERHEAD_MAX 101
 
 /* Largest channel payload that still fits MAX_PACKET_SZ on the wire, which
- * bounds the whole binary packet. Comes to 35000 - 101 = 34899. Derived, not
- * a tunable, so it is deliberately not overridable. */
+ * bounds the whole binary packet. At most 35000 - 101 = 34899. Derived, not
+ * a tunable, so deliberately not overridable. */
 #define MAX_CHANNEL_PACKET_SZ (MAX_PACKET_SZ - CHANNEL_PACKET_OVERHEAD_SZ)
 
-/* wolfSSH_CTX_SetWindowPacketSize() bounds an explicit size by
- * MAX_CHANNEL_PACKET_SZ, but a zero there and CtxInit() both take
- * DEFAULT_MAX_PACKET_SZ unchecked, so assert the default holds too. Both
- * MAX_PACKET_SZ and DEFAULT_MAX_PACKET_SZ are overridable and the default
- * path is the common one. */
+/* Both sizes are overridable, and CtxInit() takes DEFAULT_MAX_PACKET_SZ
+ * unchecked, so assert the default frames too. */
 #if DEFAULT_MAX_PACKET_SZ > (MAX_PACKET_SZ - CHANNEL_PACKET_OVERHEAD_MAX)
     #error "DEFAULT_MAX_PACKET_SZ too large to frame inside MAX_PACKET_SZ"
 #endif