diff --git a/compiler/GHC/Utils/Panic.hs b/compiler/GHC/Utils/Panic.hs
index fb94c9f79f2ecb241b4104102c1ee25838fb7607..d93de5c55181a00516f77ec4fca09d4cae6339f6 100644
--- a/compiler/GHC/Utils/Panic.hs
+++ b/compiler/GHC/Utils/Panic.hs
@@ -127,6 +127,10 @@ instance Exception GhcException where
           PlainProgramError str -> ProgramError str
     | otherwise = Nothing
 
+  -- Explicitly omit ExceptionContext since we generally don't
+  -- want backtraces and other context in GHC's user errors.
+  displayException exc = showGhcExceptionUnsafe exc ""
+
 instance Show GhcException where
   showsPrec _ e = showGhcExceptionUnsafe e