diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index cec047f65a8..543cdc33fee 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -19147,6 +19147,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "gpui_util",
  "icons",
  "itertools 0.14.0",
+ "log",
  "menu",
  "schemars 1.0.4",
  "serde",
diff --git a/crates/ui/Cargo.toml b/crates/ui/Cargo.toml
index 4ae0e6d2e46..8cd99a50783 100644
--- a/crates/ui/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/ui/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ gpui.workspace = true
 gpui_macros.workspace = true
 icons.workspace = true
 itertools.workspace = true
+log.workspace = true
 menu.workspace = true
 schemars.workspace = true
 serde.workspace = true
@@ -35,5 +36,8 @@ windows.workspace = true
 [dev-dependencies]
 gpui = { workspace = true, features = ["test-support"] }
 
+[package.metadata.cargo-machete]
+ignored = ["log"]
+
 [features]
 default = []
diff --git a/crates/ui/src/components/label/highlighted_label.rs b/crates/ui/src/components/label/highlighted_label.rs
index 73e03f82dfd..6d5b1d5645a 100644
--- a/crates/ui/src/components/label/highlighted_label.rs
+++ b/crates/ui/src/components/label/highlighted_label.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use std::ops::Range;
 
 use gpui::{FontWeight, HighlightStyle, StyleRefinement, StyledText};
+use gpui_util::debug_panic;
 
 use crate::{LabelCommon, LabelLike, LabelSize, LineHeightStyle, prelude::*};
 
@@ -14,14 +15,21 @@ pub struct HighlightedLabel {
 impl HighlightedLabel {
     /// Constructs a label with the given characters highlighted.
     /// Characters are identified by UTF-8 byte position.
-    pub fn new(label: impl Into<SharedString>, highlight_indices: Vec<usize>) -> Self {
+    #[track_caller]
+    pub fn new(label: impl Into<SharedString>, mut highlight_indices: Vec<usize>) -> Self {
         let label = label.into();
-        for &run in &highlight_indices {
-            assert!(
-                label.is_char_boundary(run),
-                "highlight index {run} is not a valid UTF-8 boundary"
+
+        if let Some(index) = highlight_indices
+            .iter()
+            .find(|&i| !label.is_char_boundary(*i))
+        {
+            let location = std::panic::Location::caller();
+            debug_panic!(
+                "highlight index {index} is not a valid UTF-8 boundary (called from {location})"
             );
+            highlight_indices.clear();
         }
+
         Self {
             base: LabelLike::new(),
             label,