diff --git a/go/types/api.go b/go/types/api.go
index bc6bac403..ba414e7eb 100644
--- a/go/types/api.go
+++ b/go/types/api.go
@@ -96,6 +96,9 @@ type Config struct {
 
 	// If Error != nil, it is called with each error found
 	// during type checking; err has dynamic type Error.
+	// Secondary errors (for instance, to enumerate all types
+	// involved in an invalid recursive type declaration) have
+	// error strings that start with a '\t' character.
 	Error func(err error)
 
 	// If Import != nil, it is called for each imported package.
diff --git a/go/types/decl.go b/go/types/decl.go
index 12193b7b5..e78dea698 100644
--- a/go/types/decl.go
+++ b/go/types/decl.go
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ func (check *checker) declare(scope *Scope, id *ast.Ident, obj Object) {
 }
 
 // objDecl type-checks the declaration of obj in its respective file scope.
-// See typeDecl for the details on def and cycleOk.
-func (check *checker) objDecl(obj Object, def *Named, cycle []*TypeName) {
+// See check.typ for the details on def and path.
+func (check *checker) objDecl(obj Object, def *Named, path []*TypeName) {
 	if obj.Type() != nil {
 		return // already checked - nothing to do
 	}
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ func (check *checker) objDecl(obj Object, def *Named, cycle []*TypeName) {
 		check.decl = d // new package-level var decl
 		check.varDecl(obj, d.lhs, d.typ, d.init)
 	case *TypeName:
-		check.typeDecl(obj, d.typ, def, cycle)
+		check.typeDecl(obj, d.typ, def, path)
 	case *Func:
 		check.funcDecl(obj, d)
 	default:
@@ -86,8 +86,7 @@ func (check *checker) objDecl(obj Object, def *Named, cycle []*TypeName) {
 func (check *checker) constDecl(obj *Const, typ, init ast.Expr) {
 	assert(obj.typ == nil)
 
-	// TODO(gri) consider using the same cycle detection as for types
-	// so that we can print the actual cycle in case of an error
+	// TODO(gri) Instead of this code we should rely on initialization cycle detection.
 	if obj.visited {
 		check.errorf(obj.Pos(), "illegal cycle in initialization of constant %s", obj.name)
 		obj.typ = Typ[Invalid]
@@ -121,12 +120,10 @@ func (check *checker) constDecl(obj *Const, typ, init ast.Expr) {
 	check.iota = nil
 }
 
-// TODO(gri) document arguments
 func (check *checker) varDecl(obj *Var, lhs []*Var, typ, init ast.Expr) {
 	assert(obj.typ == nil)
 
-	// TODO(gri) consider using the same cycle detection as for types
-	// so that we can print the actual cycle in case of an error
+	// TODO(gri) Instead of this code we should rely on initialization cycle detection.
 	if obj.visited {
 		check.errorf(obj.Pos(), "illegal cycle in initialization of variable %s", obj.name)
 		obj.typ = Typ[Invalid]
@@ -195,7 +192,7 @@ func (n *Named) setUnderlying(typ Type) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (check *checker) typeDecl(obj *TypeName, typ ast.Expr, def *Named, cycle []*TypeName) {
+func (check *checker) typeDecl(obj *TypeName, typ ast.Expr, def *Named, path []*TypeName) {
 	assert(obj.typ == nil)
 
 	// type declarations cannot use iota
@@ -206,7 +203,7 @@ func (check *checker) typeDecl(obj *TypeName, typ ast.Expr, def *Named, cycle []
 	obj.typ = named // make sure recursive type declarations terminate
 
 	// determine underlying type of named
-	check.typ(typ, named, append(cycle, obj))
+	check.typ(typ, named, append(path, obj))
 
 	// The underlying type of named may be itself a named type that is
 	// incomplete:
diff --git a/go/types/resolver.go b/go/types/resolver.go
index c8f2e9cd3..ae6361c15 100644
--- a/go/types/resolver.go
+++ b/go/types/resolver.go
@@ -511,7 +511,7 @@ func (check *checker) dependencies(obj Object, init *declInfo, path []Object) {
 				}
 				obj = cycle[i]
 			}
-			check.errorf(obj.Pos(), "\t%s (cycle start)", obj.Name())
+			check.errorf(obj.Pos(), "\t%s", obj.Name())
 
 		}
 		init.mark = -1 // avoid further errors
diff --git a/go/types/typexpr.go b/go/types/typexpr.go
index e3f1fa0ef..efcd4d383 100644
--- a/go/types/typexpr.go
+++ b/go/types/typexpr.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import (
 // If an error occurred, x.mode is set to invalid.
 // For the meaning of def and cycle, see check.typ, below.
 //
-func (check *checker) ident(x *operand, e *ast.Ident, def *Named, cycle []*TypeName) {
+func (check *checker) ident(x *operand, e *ast.Ident, def *Named, path []*TypeName) {
 	x.mode = invalid
 	x.expr = e
 
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ func (check *checker) ident(x *operand, e *ast.Ident, def *Named, cycle []*TypeN
 	}
 	check.recordObject(e, obj)
 
-	check.objDecl(obj, def, cycle)
+	check.objDecl(obj, def, path)
 	typ := obj.Type()
 	assert(typ != nil)
 
@@ -69,11 +69,16 @@ func (check *checker) ident(x *operand, e *ast.Ident, def *Named, cycle []*TypeN
 		obj.used = true
 		x.mode = typexpr
 		// check for cycle
+		// (it's ok to iterate forward because each named type appears at most once in path)
 		// TODO(gri) consider passing []*Named instead of []*TypeName for cycle
-		for _, prev := range cycle {
+		for i, prev := range path {
 			if prev == obj {
 				check.errorf(obj.pos, "illegal cycle in declaration of %s", obj.name)
-				// TODO(gri) print the actual cycle
+				// print cycle
+				for _, obj := range path[i:] {
+					check.errorf(obj.Pos(), "\t%s refers to", obj.Name()) // secondary error, \t indented
+				}
+				check.errorf(obj.Pos(), "\t%s", obj.Name())
 				// maintain x.mode == typexpr despite error
 				typ = Typ[Invalid]
 				break
@@ -113,11 +118,10 @@ func (check *checker) ident(x *operand, e *ast.Ident, def *Named, cycle []*TypeN
 // typ type-checks the type expression e and returns its type, or Typ[Invalid].
 // If def != nil, e is the type specification for the named type def, declared
 // in a type declaration, and def.underlying will be set to the type of e before
-// any components of e are type-checked.
-// If cycle is not empty, e (or elements of e) may refer to a named type that is not
-// yet completely set up.
+// any components of e are type-checked. Path contains the path of named types
+// referring to this type.
 //
-func (check *checker) typ(e ast.Expr, def *Named, cycle []*TypeName) (T Type) {
+func (check *checker) typ(e ast.Expr, def *Named, path []*TypeName) (T Type) {
 	if trace {
 		check.trace(e.Pos(), "%s", e)
 		check.indent++
@@ -127,7 +131,7 @@ func (check *checker) typ(e ast.Expr, def *Named, cycle []*TypeName) (T Type) {
 		}()
 	}
 
-	T = check.typInternal(e, def, cycle)
+	T = check.typInternal(e, def, path)
 	assert(isTyped(T))
 	check.recordTypeAndValue(e, T, nil)
 
@@ -197,14 +201,14 @@ func (check *checker) funcType(sig *Signature, recv *ast.FieldList, ftyp *ast.Fu
 // typInternal drives type checking of types.
 // Must only be called by typ.
 //
-func (check *checker) typInternal(e ast.Expr, def *Named, cycle []*TypeName) Type {
+func (check *checker) typInternal(e ast.Expr, def *Named, path []*TypeName) Type {
 	switch e := e.(type) {
 	case *ast.BadExpr:
 		// ignore - error reported before
 
 	case *ast.Ident:
 		var x operand
-		check.ident(&x, e, def, cycle)
+		check.ident(&x, e, def, path)
 
 		switch x.mode {
 		case typexpr:
@@ -237,14 +241,14 @@ func (check *checker) typInternal(e ast.Expr, def *Named, cycle []*TypeName) Typ
 		}
 
 	case *ast.ParenExpr:
-		return check.typ(e.X, def, cycle)
+		return check.typ(e.X, def, path)
 
 	case *ast.ArrayType:
 		if e.Len != nil {
 			typ := new(Array)
 			def.setUnderlying(typ)
 			typ.len = check.arrayLength(e.Len)
-			typ.elem = check.typ(e.Elt, nil, cycle)
+			typ.elem = check.typ(e.Elt, nil, path)
 			return typ
 
 		} else {
@@ -257,7 +261,7 @@ func (check *checker) typInternal(e ast.Expr, def *Named, cycle []*TypeName) Typ
 	case *ast.StructType:
 		typ := new(Struct)
 		def.setUnderlying(typ)
-		check.structType(typ, e, cycle)
+		check.structType(typ, e, path)
 		return typ
 
 	case *ast.StarExpr:
@@ -275,7 +279,7 @@ func (check *checker) typInternal(e ast.Expr, def *Named, cycle []*TypeName) Typ
 	case *ast.InterfaceType:
 		typ := new(Interface)
 		def.setUnderlying(typ)
-		check.interfaceType(typ, e, def, cycle)
+		check.interfaceType(typ, e, def, path)
 		return typ
 
 	case *ast.MapType:
@@ -427,7 +431,7 @@ func (check *checker) declareInSet(oset *objset, pos token.Pos, obj Object) bool
 	return true
 }
 
-func (check *checker) interfaceType(iface *Interface, ityp *ast.InterfaceType, def *Named, cycle []*TypeName) {
+func (check *checker) interfaceType(iface *Interface, ityp *ast.InterfaceType, def *Named, path []*TypeName) {
 	// empty interface: common case
 	if ityp.Methods == nil {
 		return
@@ -498,7 +502,7 @@ func (check *checker) interfaceType(iface *Interface, ityp *ast.InterfaceType, d
 
 	for _, e := range embedded {
 		pos := e.Pos()
-		typ := check.typ(e, nil, cycle)
+		typ := check.typ(e, nil, path)
 		named, _ := typ.(*Named)
 		if named == nil {
 			if typ != Typ[Invalid] {
@@ -586,7 +590,7 @@ func (check *checker) tag(t *ast.BasicLit) string {
 	return ""
 }
 
-func (check *checker) structType(styp *Struct, e *ast.StructType, cycle []*TypeName) {
+func (check *checker) structType(styp *Struct, e *ast.StructType, path []*TypeName) {
 	list := e.Fields
 	if list == nil {
 		return
@@ -621,7 +625,7 @@ func (check *checker) structType(styp *Struct, e *ast.StructType, cycle []*TypeN
 	}
 
 	for _, f := range list.List {
-		typ = check.typ(f.Type, nil, cycle)
+		typ = check.typ(f.Type, nil, path)
 		tag = check.tag(f.Tag)
 		if len(f.Names) > 0 {
 			// named fields