diff --git a/developer/src/kmc-ldml/src/compiler/compiler.ts b/developer/src/kmc-ldml/src/compiler/compiler.ts
index 9da7c9cd87a..b972baf7509 100644
--- a/developer/src/kmc-ldml/src/compiler/compiler.ts
+++ b/developer/src/kmc-ldml/src/compiler/compiler.ts
@@ -343,11 +343,7 @@ export class LdmlKeyboardCompiler implements KeymanCompiler {
       }
       const sect = section.compile(globalSections);
 
-      /* c8 ignore next 7 */
       if(!sect) {
-        // This should not happen -- validate() should have told us
-        // if something is going to fail to compile
-        this.callbacks.reportMessage(CompilerMessages.Fatal_SectionCompilerFailed({sect:section.id}));
         passed = false;
         continue;
       }
diff --git a/developer/src/kmc-ldml/src/compiler/messages.ts b/developer/src/kmc-ldml/src/compiler/messages.ts
index e93340e2297..a4f19f170a6 100644
--- a/developer/src/kmc-ldml/src/compiler/messages.ts
+++ b/developer/src/kmc-ldml/src/compiler/messages.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-import { util, CompilerErrorNamespace, CompilerErrorSeverity, CompilerMessageSpec as m, CompilerMessageDef as def, CompilerMessageSpecWithException } from "@keymanapp/common-types";
+import { util, CompilerErrorNamespace, CompilerErrorSeverity, CompilerMessageSpec as m, CompilerMessageDef as def } from "@keymanapp/common-types";
 // const SevInfo = CompilerErrorSeverity.Info | CompilerErrorNamespace.LdmlKeyboardCompiler;
 const SevHint = CompilerErrorSeverity.Hint | CompilerErrorNamespace.LdmlKeyboardCompiler;
 const SevWarn = CompilerErrorSeverity.Warn | CompilerErrorNamespace.LdmlKeyboardCompiler;
 const SevError = CompilerErrorSeverity.Error | CompilerErrorNamespace.LdmlKeyboardCompiler;
-const SevFatal = CompilerErrorSeverity.Fatal | CompilerErrorNamespace.LdmlKeyboardCompiler;
+// const SevFatal = CompilerErrorSeverity.Fatal | CompilerErrorNamespace.LdmlKeyboardCompiler;
 
 /**
  * @internal
@@ -59,9 +59,7 @@ export class CompilerMessages {
   static Error_MustBeAtLeastOneLayerElement = () =>
     m(this.ERROR_MustBeAtLeastOneLayerElement, `The source file must contain at least one layer element.`);
 
-  static FATAL_SectionCompilerFailed = SevFatal | 0x000F;
-  static Fatal_SectionCompilerFailed = (o:{sect: string}) =>
-  CompilerMessageSpecWithException(this.FATAL_SectionCompilerFailed, null, `The compiler for '${def(o.sect)}' failed unexpectedly.`);
+  // 0x000F - available
 
   /** annotate the to= or id= entry */
   private static outputOrKeyId(o:{output?: string, keyId?: string}) {
diff --git a/developer/src/kmc-ldml/test/fixtures/sections/tran/fail-bad-tran-2.xml b/developer/src/kmc-ldml/test/fixtures/sections/tran/fail-bad-tran-2.xml
index fba5698c000..24d904f7f2d 100644
--- a/developer/src/kmc-ldml/test/fixtures/sections/tran/fail-bad-tran-2.xml
+++ b/developer/src/kmc-ldml/test/fixtures/sections/tran/fail-bad-tran-2.xml
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@
 
   <keys />
 
+  <!-- this is here because this test is used by test-compiler-e2e -->
+  <layers formId="us">
+    <layer id="base">
+      <row keys="a b c" />
+    </layer>
+  </layers>
+
   <transforms type="simple">
     <transformGroup>
       <transform from="\u0127" to="x"/> <!-- fail: use \u{1234} instead -->
diff --git a/developer/src/kmc-ldml/test/test-compiler-e2e.ts b/developer/src/kmc-ldml/test/test-compiler-e2e.ts
index aa014e15a62..63b01ccb23e 100644
--- a/developer/src/kmc-ldml/test/test-compiler-e2e.ts
+++ b/developer/src/kmc-ldml/test/test-compiler-e2e.ts
@@ -117,4 +117,16 @@ describe('compiler-tests', function() {
       ]);
     assert.isNotNull(kmx);
   });
+  it('should fail on extra escapes - sections/tran/fail-bad-tran-2.xml', async function() {
+    const inputFilename = makePathToFixture('sections/tran/fail-bad-tran-2.xml');
+    const kmx = await compileKeyboard(inputFilename, { ...compilerTestOptions, saveDebug: true, shouldAddCompilerVersion: false },
+      [
+        CompilerMessages.Error_InvalidQuadEscape({ cp: 295 }),
+      ],
+      true, // validation should fail
+      [
+        // compiler messages (not reached, we've already failed)
+      ]);
+    assert.isNull(kmx); // should fail post-validate
+  });
 });
diff --git a/developer/src/kmc-ldml/test/test-tran.ts b/developer/src/kmc-ldml/test/test-tran.ts
index 277eaaf1664..2ee82fd2d20 100644
--- a/developer/src/kmc-ldml/test/test-tran.ts
+++ b/developer/src/kmc-ldml/test/test-tran.ts
@@ -292,6 +292,7 @@ describe('tran', function () {
       ],
     },
     {
+      // also used in test-compiler-e2e.ts
       subpath: `sections/tran/fail-bad-tran-2.xml`,
       errors: [
         CompilerMessages.Error_InvalidQuadEscape({ cp: 295 }),