diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index ee24a467b0..a3a5261d09 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -5325,6 +5325,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "sha2 0.11.0",
+ "swc_common",
  "swc_ecma_ast",
  "tar",
  "tempfile",
diff --git a/crates/perry/Cargo.toml b/crates/perry/Cargo.toml
index 9d95b5cce7..e47137b609 100644
--- a/crates/perry/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/perry/Cargo.toml
@@ -83,3 +83,4 @@ chrono = "0.4"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 tempfile = "3"
+swc_common.workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/perry/src/commands/check.rs b/crates/perry/src/commands/check.rs
index 18dd3d05f6..5fd5ca668b 100644
--- a/crates/perry/src/commands/check.rs
+++ b/crates/perry/src/commands/check.rs
@@ -286,25 +286,12 @@ pub fn run(args: CheckArgs, format: OutputFormat, use_color: bool, verbose: u8)
                 // diagnostic emitter can print file:line:column and the
                 // offending source snippet. Otherwise fall back to a
                 // location-less message (but still tag it with the file_id
-                // so the emitter can at least show the filename).
-                let (message, span) =
-                    if let Some(lower_err) = e.downcast_ref::<perry_hir::error::LowerError>() {
-                        let span = match lower_err.span {
-                            Some(swc_span) => Span::new(file_id, swc_span.lo.0, swc_span.hi.0),
-                            None => Span::DUMMY,
-                        };
-                        (lower_err.message.clone(), span)
-                    } else {
-                        // No span info — prefix the filename so the user at
-                        // least knows which file produced the error.
-                        (format!("{}: {}", filename, e), Span::DUMMY)
-                    };
-
-                let mut builder = Diagnostic::error(DiagnosticCode::UnsupportedFeature, message);
-                if !span.is_dummy() {
-                    builder = builder.with_span(span);
-                }
-                all_diagnostics.push(builder.build());
+                // so the emitter can at least show the filename). #5249:
+                // shared with the `compile` path so both front-ends render
+                // lowering errors identically.
+                all_diagnostics.push(super::lower_diagnostic::lower_error_to_diagnostic(
+                    &e, file_id, &filename,
+                ));
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/crates/perry/src/commands/compile/collect_modules.rs b/crates/perry/src/commands/compile/collect_modules.rs
index dd533a9699..dc588da928 100644
--- a/crates/perry/src/commands/compile/collect_modules.rs
+++ b/crates/perry/src/commands/compile/collect_modules.rs
@@ -833,7 +833,24 @@ fn collect_module_one(
             ctx.deferred_refusals.push(d);
         }
     }
-    let (mut hir_module, new_next_class_id) = lower_result?;
+    // #5249: a lowering error carries a file-relative span but no file
+    // identity, and only this module's `source` text is in scope here — so
+    // resolve the span into a `file:line:col` + snippet diagnostic now,
+    // matching what `perry check` prints, instead of letting the bare
+    // locationless message propagate to the top-level error sink.
+    let (mut hir_module, new_next_class_id) = match lower_result {
+        Ok(v) => v,
+        Err(e) => {
+            if let Some(rendered) = crate::commands::lower_diagnostic::render_compile_lower_error(
+                &e,
+                &source_file_path,
+                &source,
+            ) {
+                return Err(anyhow!("{}", rendered));
+            }
+            return Err(e);
+        }
+    };
     *next_class_id = new_next_class_id; // Update the global class_id counter
 
     // #2309 Stage 2: fold build-time `process.env` branches BEFORE dynamic
diff --git a/crates/perry/src/commands/lower_diagnostic.rs b/crates/perry/src/commands/lower_diagnostic.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3e66fe5394
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/perry/src/commands/lower_diagnostic.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+//! Shared rendering for HIR lowering errors (#5249).
+//!
+//! `perry check` and `perry compile` both surface lowering failures, but
+//! historically only `check` resolved the captured span into a
+//! `file:line:column` diagnostic — `compile` printed the bare anyhow message
+//! with no location, which made any lowering wall on large/minified/generated
+//! input effectively undiagnosable.
+//!
+//! A [`perry_hir::error::LowerError`] carries its span as a file-relative
+//! SWC span with no file identity, so the span can only be resolved where the
+//! offending module's source text is in scope. This module hosts the single
+//! downcast-and-build helper both front-ends share, plus a `compile`-side
+//! renderer that emits the same `error[CODE] --> file:line:col` + snippet
+//! layout `check` produces.
+
+use perry_diagnostics::{
+    Diagnostic, DiagnosticCode, DiagnosticEmitter, FileId, SourceCache, Span, TerminalEmitter,
+};
+use std::io::IsTerminal;
+
+/// Build an error `Diagnostic` from a lowering failure.
+///
+/// When the error is a [`perry_hir::error::LowerError`] carrying a span, the
+/// span is resolved against `file_id` so the emitter can print
+/// `file:line:column` and the offending snippet. A span-less `LowerError` (or
+/// any other error) falls back to a location-less message, prefixed with
+/// `filename` so the user at least knows which file produced it.
+pub fn lower_error_to_diagnostic(
+    err: &anyhow::Error,
+    file_id: FileId,
+    filename: &str,
+) -> Diagnostic {
+    let (message, span) =
+        if let Some(lower_err) = err.downcast_ref::<perry_hir::error::LowerError>() {
+            let span = match lower_err.span {
+                Some(swc_span) => Span::new(file_id, swc_span.lo.0, swc_span.hi.0),
+                None => Span::DUMMY,
+            };
+            (lower_err.message.clone(), span)
+        } else {
+            // No span info — prefix the filename so the user at least knows
+            // which file produced the error.
+            (format!("{}: {}", filename, err), Span::DUMMY)
+        };
+
+    let mut builder = Diagnostic::error(DiagnosticCode::UnsupportedFeature, message);
+    if !span.is_dummy() {
+        builder = builder.with_span(span);
+    }
+    builder.build()
+}
+
+/// Render a lowering error as a full terminal diagnostic string for the
+/// `compile` path (#5249).
+///
+/// `compile` lowers each module where only that module's `source` text is in
+/// scope, and the `LowerError` span is file-relative but carries no file
+/// identity — so rendering must happen at the lowering site rather than at
+/// the top-level error sink. Builds a one-file [`SourceCache`], resolves the
+/// span, and emits the same `error[CODE] --> file:line:col` + snippet layout
+/// as `perry check`.
+///
+/// Returns `None` when the error carries no span — letting the caller keep
+/// the bare-message behaviour for failures that gain nothing from the snippet
+/// machinery.
+///
+/// `source` must be the exact text the module's AST was parsed from (post any
+/// CJS-wrap / require-rewrite transforms), so the span's byte offsets line up.
+pub fn render_compile_lower_error(
+    err: &anyhow::Error,
+    filename: &str,
+    source: &str,
+) -> Option<String> {
+    let lower_err = err.downcast_ref::<perry_hir::error::LowerError>()?;
+    // Only take over rendering when there's a span to point at.
+    lower_err.span?;
+
+    let mut cache = SourceCache::new();
+    let file_id = cache.add_file(filename, source.to_string());
+    let diag = lower_error_to_diagnostic(err, file_id, filename);
+
+    // The rendered string is returned as the error message, which the top-
+    // level `main` Termination prints to stderr — colorize to match `check`
+    // when stderr is a terminal and `NO_COLOR` isn't set.
+    let use_color = std::io::stderr().is_terminal() && std::env::var_os("NO_COLOR").is_none();
+    let mut buf: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
+    let mut emitter = TerminalEmitter::new(&mut buf, use_color);
+    emitter.emit(&diag, &cache).ok()?;
+    Some(String::from_utf8_lossy(&buf).trim_end().to_string())
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use perry_hir::error::LowerError;
+    use swc_common::{BytePos, Span as SwcSpan};
+
+    fn span(lo: u32, hi: u32) -> SwcSpan {
+        SwcSpan::new(BytePos(lo), BytePos(hi))
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn render_compile_lower_error_emits_location_and_snippet() {
+        // Mirror the #5249 repro: a span-tagged lowering failure should
+        // resolve to `error[U006] --> file:line:col` plus the offending line.
+        let source = "for (var { a, b } = { a: 1, b: 2 }, i = 0; i < 1; i++) {}\n";
+        // SWC BytePos is 1-based for a fresh single-file source map, so the
+        // `{` of `{ a, b }` (byte 9) lands at BytePos 10.
+        let err = anyhow::Error::new(LowerError::new("Unsupported binding pattern", span(10, 18)));
+
+        let rendered =
+            render_compile_lower_error(&err, "t.ts", source).expect("span-tagged error renders");
+
+        assert!(
+            rendered.contains("error[U006]: Unsupported binding pattern"),
+            "missing header: {rendered}"
+        );
+        assert!(rendered.contains("t.ts:1:11"), "missing location: {rendered}");
+        assert!(rendered.contains("for (var { a, b }"), "missing snippet: {rendered}");
+        assert!(rendered.contains('^'), "missing underline: {rendered}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn render_compile_lower_error_skips_spanless_errors() {
+        // A span-less LowerError gains nothing from the snippet machinery —
+        // the caller should fall back to the bare message.
+        let err = anyhow::Error::new(LowerError::without_span("no location here"));
+        assert!(render_compile_lower_error(&err, "t.ts", "x;\n").is_none());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn render_compile_lower_error_skips_non_lower_errors() {
+        let err = anyhow::anyhow!("some other failure");
+        assert!(render_compile_lower_error(&err, "t.ts", "x;\n").is_none());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn lower_error_to_diagnostic_falls_back_to_filename_prefixed_message() {
+        // Non-LowerError → location-less, filename-prefixed message, no span.
+        let err = anyhow::anyhow!("boom");
+        let diag = lower_error_to_diagnostic(&err, FileId(0), "mod.ts");
+        assert_eq!(diag.message, "mod.ts: boom");
+        assert!(diag.span.is_dummy());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/perry/src/commands/mod.rs b/crates/perry/src/commands/mod.rs
index ce84aadea6..43ead0241f 100644
--- a/crates/perry/src/commands/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/perry/src/commands/mod.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ pub mod init;
 pub mod install;
 pub mod lock;
 pub mod login;
+pub mod lower_diagnostic;
 pub mod native;
 pub mod perry_lock;
 pub(crate) mod progress;