diff --git a/exerr/exerr.go b/exerr/exerr.go
index 2fe8f42..02887c5 100644
--- a/exerr/exerr.go
+++ b/exerr/exerr.go
@@ -169,14 +169,32 @@ func (ee *ExErr) ShortLog(evt *zerolog.Event) {
 
 // RecursiveMessage returns the message to show
 // = first error (top-down) that is not wrapping/foreign/empty
+// = lowest level error (that is not empty)
+// = fallback to self.message
 func (ee *ExErr) RecursiveMessage() string {
+
+	// ==== [1] ==== first error (top-down) that is not wrapping/foreign/empty
+
 	for curr := ee; curr != nil; curr = curr.OriginalError {
 		if curr.Message != "" && curr.Category != CatWrap && curr.Category != CatForeign {
 			return curr.Message
 		}
 	}
 
-	// fallback to self
+	// ==== [2] ==== lowest level error (that is not empty)
+
+	deepestMsg := ""
+	for curr := ee; curr != nil; curr = curr.OriginalError {
+		if curr.Message != "" {
+			deepestMsg = curr.Message
+		}
+	}
+	if deepestMsg != "" {
+		return deepestMsg
+	}
+
+	// ==== [3] ==== fallback to self.message
+
 	return ee.Message
 }
 
diff --git a/goextVersion.go b/goextVersion.go
index cd28de6..b01b244 100644
--- a/goextVersion.go
+++ b/goextVersion.go
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 package goext
 
-const GoextVersion = "0.0.311"
+const GoextVersion = "0.0.312"
 
-const GoextVersionTimestamp = "2023-11-09T11:48:45+0100"
+const GoextVersionTimestamp = "2023-11-10T10:16:31+0100"