diff --git a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scbuild/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scbuild/BUILD.bazel
index b152068161a0..75a7c4a9a84a 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scbuild/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scbuild/BUILD.bazel
@@ -47,8 +47,6 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/sql/sessiondatapb",
         "//pkg/sql/sqlerrors",
         "//pkg/sql/types",
-        "//pkg/util/log",
-        "//pkg/util/timeutil",
         "//pkg/util/uuid",
         "@com_github_cockroachdb_errors//:errors",
         "@com_github_cockroachdb_redact//:redact",
diff --git a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scbuild/build.go b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scbuild/build.go
index 2c76fc3c9da6..e8bc78553f83 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scbuild/build.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scbuild/build.go
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ package scbuild
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"runtime"
 
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/settings/cluster"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/catalog"
@@ -27,9 +26,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/sem/eval"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/sem/tree"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/sessiondatapb"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/log"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/timeutil"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/redact"
 )
 
 // Build constructs a new state from an initial state and a statement.
@@ -39,13 +36,9 @@ import (
 func Build(
 	ctx context.Context, dependencies Dependencies, initial scpb.CurrentState, n tree.Statement,
 ) (_ scpb.CurrentState, err error) {
-	start := timeutil.Now()
-	defer func() {
-		if err != nil || !log.ExpensiveLogEnabled(ctx, 2) {
-			return
-		}
-		log.Infof(ctx, "build for %s took %v", n.StatementTag(), timeutil.Since(start))
-	}()
+	defer scerrors.HandleErrorOrPanic(ctx, &err,
+		"building declarative schema change targets for %s", redact.Safe(n.StatementTag()),
+	)()
 	initial = initial.DeepCopy()
 	bs := newBuilderState(ctx, dependencies, initial)
 	els := newEventLogState(dependencies, initial, n)
@@ -64,21 +57,6 @@ func Build(
 		TreeAnnotator:        an,
 		SchemaFeatureChecker: dependencies.FeatureChecker(),
 	}
-	defer func() {
-		switch recErr := recover().(type) {
-		case nil:
-			// No error.
-		case runtime.Error:
-			err = errors.WithAssertionFailure(recErr)
-		case error:
-			err = recErr
-		default:
-			err = errors.AssertionFailedf(
-				"unexpected error encountered while building schema change plan %s",
-				recErr,
-			)
-		}
-	}()
 	scbuildstmt.Process(b, an.GetStatement())
 	an.ValidateAnnotations()
 	els.statements[len(els.statements)-1].RedactedStatement =
diff --git a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scerrors/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scerrors/BUILD.bazel
index 54658eb0a929..3e60521621fe 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scerrors/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scerrors/BUILD.bazel
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/sql/catalog",
         "//pkg/sql/catalog/descpb",
         "//pkg/sql/sem/tree",
+        "//pkg/util/log",
+        "//pkg/util/timeutil",
         "@com_github_cockroachdb_errors//:errors",
     ],
 )
diff --git a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scerrors/errors.go b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scerrors/errors.go
index 785b5db3978b..3e29ed34ccca 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scerrors/errors.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scerrors/errors.go
@@ -11,15 +11,61 @@
 package scerrors
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"runtime"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/catalog"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/catalog/descpb"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/sem/tree"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/log"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/timeutil"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
 )
 
+// HandleErrorOrPanic generates a closure, intended to be deferred, to handle
+// panics which reach all the way up to the declarative schema changer's entry
+// points.
+// Due to it being called at the entry points, this function also handles
+// logging and wrapping errors, for convenience.
+func HandleErrorOrPanic(
+	ctx context.Context, err *error, wrapMsgFmt string, wrapMsgArgs ...interface{},
+) func() {
+	isExpensive := log.ExpensiveLogEnabled(ctx, 2)
+	var start time.Time
+	if isExpensive {
+		start = timeutil.Now()
+	}
+	const logDepth = 1
+	log.InfofDepth(ctx, logDepth, wrapMsgFmt, wrapMsgArgs...)
+	return func() {
+		switch recErr := recover().(type) {
+		case nil:
+			// No panicked error.
+		case runtime.Error:
+			*err = errors.WithAssertionFailure(recErr)
+		case error:
+			*err = recErr
+		default:
+			*err = errors.AssertionFailedf("recovered from uncategorizable panic: %v", recErr)
+		}
+		wrapMsgFmt = "done " + wrapMsgFmt
+		if *err != nil {
+			wrapMsgFmt = wrapMsgFmt + " with error: %v"
+			wrapMsgArgs = append(wrapMsgArgs, *err)
+		} else if isExpensive {
+			wrapMsgFmt = wrapMsgFmt + "in %s"
+			wrapMsgArgs = append(wrapMsgArgs, timeutil.Since(start))
+		}
+		log.InfofDepth(ctx, logDepth, wrapMsgFmt, wrapMsgArgs...)
+		if *err != nil && errors.HasAssertionFailure(*err) {
+			*err = errors.Wrapf(*err, wrapMsgFmt, wrapMsgArgs...)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 type notImplementedError struct {
 	n      tree.NodeFormatter
 	detail string
diff --git a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scpb/state.go b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scpb/state.go
index e2c23daae2c5..edf948444171 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scpb/state.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scpb/state.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ package scpb
 
 import (
 	"sort"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/protoutil"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
@@ -69,6 +70,18 @@ func (s *CurrentState) Rollback() {
 	s.InRollback = true
 }
 
+// StatementTags returns the concatenated statement tags in the current state.
+func (s CurrentState) StatementTags() string {
+	var sb strings.Builder
+	for i, stmt := range s.Statements {
+		if i > 0 {
+			sb.WriteString("; ")
+		}
+		sb.WriteString(stmt.StatementTag)
+	}
+	return sb.String()
+}
+
 // NumStatus is the number of values which Status may take on.
 var NumStatus = len(Status_name)
 
diff --git a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scplan/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scplan/BUILD.bazel
index 7efd047612b5..f8d5b08823fd 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scplan/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scplan/BUILD.bazel
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ go_library(
     deps = [
         "//pkg/clusterversion",
         "//pkg/jobs/jobspb",
+        "//pkg/sql/schemachanger/scerrors",
         "//pkg/sql/schemachanger/scop",
         "//pkg/sql/schemachanger/scpb",
         "//pkg/sql/schemachanger/scplan/internal/opgen",
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/util/timeutil",
         "//pkg/util/treeprinter",
         "@com_github_cockroachdb_errors//:errors",
+        "@com_github_cockroachdb_redact//:redact",
         "@in_gopkg_yaml_v2//:yaml_v2",
     ],
 )
diff --git a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scplan/plan.go b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scplan/plan.go
index 0bb0e47b1b4c..9fd0e80efd3a 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scplan/plan.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scplan/plan.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/clusterversion"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/jobs/jobspb"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scerrors"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scop"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scpb"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scplan/internal/opgen"
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/log"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/timeutil"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/redact"
 )
 
 // Params holds the arguments for planning.
@@ -79,6 +81,9 @@ func (p Plan) StagesForCurrentPhase() []scstage.Stage {
 // MakePlan generates a Plan for a particular phase of a schema change, given
 // the initial state for a set of targets. Returns an error when planning fails.
 func MakePlan(ctx context.Context, initial scpb.CurrentState, params Params) (p Plan, err error) {
+	defer scerrors.HandleErrorOrPanic(ctx, &err,
+		"building declarative schema changer plan for %s", redact.Safe(initial.StatementTags()),
+	)()
 	p = Plan{
 		CurrentState: initial,
 		Params:       params,
@@ -91,16 +96,6 @@ func MakePlan(ctx context.Context, initial scpb.CurrentState, params Params) (p
 }
 
 func makePlan(ctx context.Context, p *Plan) (err error) {
-	defer func() {
-		if r := recover(); r != nil {
-			rAsErr, ok := r.(error)
-			if !ok {
-				rAsErr = errors.Errorf("panic during MakePlan: %v", r)
-			}
-			err = rAsErr
-		}
-		err = errors.WithAssertionFailure(err)
-	}()
 	{
 		start := timeutil.Now()
 		p.Graph = buildGraph(ctx, p.Params.ActiveVersion, p.CurrentState)
diff --git a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scrun/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scrun/BUILD.bazel
index 2255f7cccce5..db75cea6687d 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scrun/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scrun/BUILD.bazel
@@ -21,9 +21,8 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/sql/schemachanger/scop",
         "//pkg/sql/schemachanger/scpb",
         "//pkg/sql/schemachanger/scplan",
-        "//pkg/util/log",
-        "//pkg/util/timeutil",
         "@com_github_cockroachdb_errors//:errors",
+        "@com_github_cockroachdb_redact//:redact",
     ],
 )
 
diff --git a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scrun/scrun.go b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scrun/scrun.go
index 0df19a0194db..cbac1ce23c86 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scrun/scrun.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scrun/scrun.go
@@ -24,9 +24,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scop"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scpb"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scplan"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/log"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/timeutil"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/redact"
 )
 
 // RunStatementPhase executes in-transaction schema changes for the targeted
@@ -158,22 +157,15 @@ func executeStage(
 	stageIdx int,
 	stage scplan.Stage,
 ) (err error) {
-
-	log.Infof(ctx, "executing %s (rollback=%v)", stage, p.InRollback)
-
+	defer scerrors.HandleErrorOrPanic(ctx, &err,
+		"executing declarative schema change %s (rollback=%v) for %s",
+		redact.Safe(stage), redact.Safe(p.InRollback), redact.Safe(p.StatementTags()),
+	)()
 	if knobs != nil && knobs.BeforeStage != nil {
 		if err := knobs.BeforeStage(p, stageIdx); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
-
-	start := timeutil.Now()
-	defer func() {
-		if log.ExpensiveLogEnabled(ctx, 2) {
-			log.Infof(ctx, "executing %s (rollback=%v) took %v: err = %v",
-				stage, p.InRollback, timeutil.Since(start), err)
-		}
-	}()
 	if err := scexec.ExecuteStage(ctx, deps, stage.Ops()); err != nil {
 		// Don't go through the effort to wrap the error if it's a retry or it's a
 		// cancelation.
@@ -209,7 +201,10 @@ func makeState(
 	descriptorIDs []descpb.ID,
 	rollback bool,
 	withCatalog withCatalogFunc,
-) (scpb.CurrentState, error) {
+) (state scpb.CurrentState, err error) {
+	defer scerrors.HandleErrorOrPanic(ctx, &err,
+		"rebuilding declarative schema change state from descriptors %v", redact.Safe(descriptorIDs),
+	)()
 	descError := func(desc catalog.Descriptor, err error) error {
 		return errors.Wrapf(err, "descriptor %q (%d)", desc.GetName(), desc.GetID())
 	}
@@ -273,7 +268,7 @@ func makeState(
 	}); err != nil {
 		return scpb.CurrentState{}, err
 	}
-	state, err := scpb.MakeCurrentStateFromDescriptors(descriptorStates)
+	state, err = scpb.MakeCurrentStateFromDescriptors(descriptorStates)
 	if err != nil {
 		return scpb.CurrentState{}, err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/testutils/lint/passes/fmtsafe/functions.go b/pkg/testutils/lint/passes/fmtsafe/functions.go
index d5a2ffa82b73..0432edb60e9c 100644
--- a/pkg/testutils/lint/passes/fmtsafe/functions.go
+++ b/pkg/testutils/lint/passes/fmtsafe/functions.go
@@ -138,6 +138,8 @@ var requireConstFmt = map[string]bool{
 	"(*github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/logictest.logicTest).Errorf": true,
 	"(*github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/logictest.logicTest).Fatalf": true,
 
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/schemachanger/scerrors.HandleErrorOrPanic": true,
+
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/server.serverErrorf":        true,
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/server.guaranteedExitFatal": true,