diff --git a/src/directive.c b/src/directive.c
index 4e531ec..2f002b1 100644
--- a/src/directive.c
+++ b/src/directive.c
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ static AsmError push_data(char *input, size_t len, ByteVec *out, Token *tok,
             }
             out->len += tok->num;
         } else {
-            return ErrUnexpectedToken;
+            return ErrNeedsDataLiteral;
         }
         *tok = token(input, len, tok->start + tok->len);
         if (tok->kind == TokNewline || tok->kind == TokEOF) {
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ static AsmError push_data(char *input, size_t len, ByteVec *out, Token *tok,
         if (tok->kind == TokComma) {
             continue;
         }
-        return ErrInvalidToken;
+        return ErrNeedCommaOrNewline;
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/error.h b/src/error.h
index 6dd2760..5c3ed13 100644
--- a/src/error.h
+++ b/src/error.h
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ typedef enum AsmError_e {
     ErrStringDataNotByte,
     ErrAlignNeedsNumber,
     ErrAlignNeedsPow2,
+    ErrNeedCommaOrNewline,
+    ErrNeedsDataLiteral,
 } AsmError;
 char *ERRORS[] = {
     "Success",
@@ -55,4 +57,6 @@ char *ERRORS[] = {
     "String literals can be used only in .db directive",
     ".align requires a number",
     ".align requires a power of two as an argument",
+    "Need comma or newline after data literal",
+    "Data literal expects a number or a string",
 };