diff --git a/src/go/types/api.go b/src/go/types/api.go
index fb585fdd0c..510a0e736c 100644
--- a/src/go/types/api.go
+++ b/src/go/types/api.go
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ import (
 type Error struct {
 	Fset *token.FileSet // file set for interpretation of Pos
 	Pos  token.Pos      // error position
-	Msg  string         // error message
+	Msg  string         // default error message, user-friendly
+	Full string         // full error message, for debugging (may contain internal details)
 	Soft bool           // if set, error is "soft"
 }
 
@@ -51,6 +52,13 @@ func (err Error) Error() string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%s: %s", err.Fset.Position(err.Pos), err.Msg)
 }
 
+// FullError returns an error string like Error, buy it may contain
+// type-checker internal details such as subscript indices for type
+// parameters and more. Useful for debugging.
+func (err Error) FullError() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s: %s", err.Fset.Position(err.Pos), err.Full)
+}
+
 // An Importer resolves import paths to Packages.
 //
 // CAUTION: This interface does not support the import of locally
diff --git a/src/go/types/errors.go b/src/go/types/errors.go
index 2bb92cc7a0..9ed8b8cc6b 100644
--- a/src/go/types/errors.go
+++ b/src/go/types/errors.go
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ import (
 	"go/token"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"unicode"
+	"unicode/utf8"
 )
 
 func assert(p bool) {
@@ -82,7 +84,7 @@ func (check *Checker) err(pos token.Pos, msg string, soft bool) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	err := Error{check.fset, pos, msg, soft}
+	err := Error{check.fset, pos, cleanMsg(msg), msg, soft}
 	if check.firstErr == nil {
 		check.firstErr = err
 	}
@@ -121,3 +123,54 @@ func (check *Checker) invalidArg(pos token.Pos, format string, args ...interface
 func (check *Checker) invalidOp(pos token.Pos, format string, args ...interface{}) {
 	check.errorf(pos, "invalid operation: "+format, args...)
 }
+
+// cleanMsg removes subscripts and replaces <>'s in instantiated type names with ()'s.
+func cleanMsg(s string) string {
+	var b strings.Builder
+	var p rune    // previous rune
+	n := 0        // nesting level
+	copy := false // indicates that we need a copy
+	for i := 0; ; {
+		r, w := utf8.DecodeRuneInString(s[i:])
+		i += w
+		if r == utf8.RuneError {
+			if w == 0 {
+				break // we're done
+			}
+			if w == 1 {
+				continue // ignore (this should never happen)
+			}
+		}
+
+		// strip subscript digits
+		if '₀' <= r && r < '₀'+10 { // '₀' == U+2080
+			copy = true
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// replace <>'s in instantiated type names by ()'s
+		// (use previous rune p and nesting level n for more
+		// accurate replacement)
+		if r == '<' && isIdentChar(p) {
+			n++
+			copy = true
+			r = '('
+		} else if r == '>' && n > 0 {
+			n--
+			copy = true
+			r = ')'
+		}
+
+		b.WriteRune(r)
+		p = r
+	}
+
+	if copy {
+		return b.String()
+	}
+	return s
+}
+
+func isIdentChar(r rune) bool {
+	return unicode.IsLetter(r) || unicode.IsDigit(r) || r == '_'
+}
diff --git a/src/go/types/errors_test.go b/src/go/types/errors_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7c5619cf52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/go/types/errors_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+// Copyright 2020 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package types
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestCleanMsg(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, test := range []struct {
+		in, want string
+	}{
+		{"", ""},
+		{"   ", "   "},
+		{"foo", "foo"},
+		{"foo<T>", "foo(T)"},
+		{"foo <T>", "foo <T>"},
+		{"foo << bar", "foo << bar"},
+		{"foo₀", "foo"},
+		{"foo<T₀>", "foo(T)"},
+	} {
+		got := cleanMsg(test.in)
+		if got != test.want {
+			t.Errorf("%q: got %q; want %q", test.in, got, test.want)
+		}
+	}
+}