diff --git a/sdk/sdk_test.go b/sdk/sdk_test.go
index 7ae3a03..095f836 100644
--- a/sdk/sdk_test.go
+++ b/sdk/sdk_test.go
@@ -231,6 +231,7 @@
 }
 
 type testPropertiesStruct struct {
+	name        string
 	private     string
 	Public_Kept string `sdk:"keep"`
 	S_Common    string
@@ -246,10 +247,17 @@
 	return p
 }
 
+func (p *testPropertiesStruct) String() string {
+	return p.name
+}
+
+var _ propertiesContainer = (*testPropertiesStruct)(nil)
+
 func TestCommonValueOptimization(t *testing.T) {
-	common := &testPropertiesStruct{}
+	common := &testPropertiesStruct{name: "common"}
 	structs := []propertiesContainer{
 		&testPropertiesStruct{
+			name:        "struct-0",
 			private:     "common",
 			Public_Kept: "common",
 			S_Common:    "common",
@@ -264,6 +272,7 @@
 			},
 		},
 		&testPropertiesStruct{
+			name:        "struct-1",
 			private:     "common",
 			Public_Kept: "common",
 			S_Common:    "common",
@@ -285,6 +294,7 @@
 	h := TestHelper{t}
 	h.AssertDeepEquals("common properties not correct",
 		&testPropertiesStruct{
+			name:        "common",
 			private:     "",
 			Public_Kept: "",
 			S_Common:    "common",
@@ -302,6 +312,7 @@
 
 	h.AssertDeepEquals("updated properties[0] not correct",
 		&testPropertiesStruct{
+			name:        "struct-0",
 			private:     "common",
 			Public_Kept: "common",
 			S_Common:    "",
@@ -319,6 +330,7 @@
 
 	h.AssertDeepEquals("updated properties[1] not correct",
 		&testPropertiesStruct{
+			name:        "struct-1",
 			private:     "common",
 			Public_Kept: "common",
 			S_Common:    "",
diff --git a/sdk/testing.go b/sdk/testing.go
index 9e27201..14a397c 100644
--- a/sdk/testing.go
+++ b/sdk/testing.go
@@ -173,6 +173,15 @@
 	}
 }
 
+func (h *TestHelper) AssertErrorMessageEquals(message string, expected string, actual error) {
+	h.t.Helper()
+	if actual == nil {
+		h.t.Errorf("Expected error but was nil")
+	} else if actual.Error() != expected {
+		h.t.Errorf("%s: expected %s, actual %s", message, expected, actual.Error())
+	}
+}
+
 func (h *TestHelper) AssertTrimmedStringEquals(message string, expected string, actual string) {
 	h.t.Helper()
 	h.AssertStringEquals(message, strings.TrimSpace(expected), strings.TrimSpace(actual))
diff --git a/sdk/update.go b/sdk/update.go
index ae74b9d..03a5c03 100644
--- a/sdk/update.go
+++ b/sdk/update.go
@@ -306,13 +306,13 @@
 	for _, sdkVariant := range sdkVariants {
 		properties := sdkVariant.dynamicMemberTypeListProperties
 		osTypeToMemberProperties[sdkVariant.Target().Os] = sdkVariant
-		dynamicMemberPropertiesContainers = append(dynamicMemberPropertiesContainers, &dynamicMemberPropertiesContainer{properties})
+		dynamicMemberPropertiesContainers = append(dynamicMemberPropertiesContainers, &dynamicMemberPropertiesContainer{sdkVariant, properties})
 	}
 
 	// Extract the common lists of members into a separate struct.
 	commonDynamicMemberProperties := s.dynamicSdkMemberTypes.createMemberListProperties()
 	extractor := newCommonValueExtractor(commonDynamicMemberProperties)
-	extractor.extractCommonProperties(commonDynamicMemberProperties, dynamicMemberPropertiesContainers)
+	extractCommonProperties(ctx, extractor, commonDynamicMemberProperties, dynamicMemberPropertiesContainers)
 
 	// Add properties common to all os types.
 	s.addMemberPropertiesToPropertySet(builder, snapshotModule, commonDynamicMemberProperties)
@@ -389,6 +389,13 @@
 	return outputZipFile
 }
 
+func extractCommonProperties(ctx android.ModuleContext, extractor *commonValueExtractor, commonProperties interface{}, inputPropertiesSlice interface{}) {
+	err := extractor.extractCommonProperties(commonProperties, inputPropertiesSlice)
+	if err != nil {
+		ctx.ModuleErrorf("error extracting common properties: %s", err)
+	}
+}
+
 func (s *sdk) addMemberPropertiesToPropertySet(builder *snapshotBuilder, propertySet android.BpPropertySet, dynamicMemberTypeListProperties interface{}) {
 	for _, memberListProperty := range s.memberListProperties() {
 		names := memberListProperty.getter(dynamicMemberTypeListProperties)
@@ -829,6 +836,8 @@
 	archInfos []*archTypeSpecificInfo
 }
 
+var _ propertiesContainer = (*osTypeSpecificInfo)(nil)
+
 type variantPropertiesFactoryFunc func() android.SdkMemberProperties
 
 // Create a new osTypeSpecificInfo for the specified os type and its properties
@@ -886,7 +895,7 @@
 
 // Optimize the properties by extracting common properties from arch type specific
 // properties into os type specific properties.
-func (osInfo *osTypeSpecificInfo) optimizeProperties(commonValueExtractor *commonValueExtractor) {
+func (osInfo *osTypeSpecificInfo) optimizeProperties(ctx *memberContext, commonValueExtractor *commonValueExtractor) {
 	// Nothing to do if there is only a single common architecture.
 	if len(osInfo.archInfos) == 0 {
 		return
@@ -897,10 +906,10 @@
 		multilib = multilib.addArchType(archInfo.archType)
 
 		// Optimize the arch properties first.
-		archInfo.optimizeProperties(commonValueExtractor)
+		archInfo.optimizeProperties(ctx, commonValueExtractor)
 	}
 
-	commonValueExtractor.extractCommonProperties(osInfo.Properties, osInfo.archInfos)
+	extractCommonProperties(ctx.sdkMemberContext, commonValueExtractor, osInfo.Properties, osInfo.archInfos)
 
 	// Choose setting for compile_multilib that is appropriate for the arch variants supplied.
 	osInfo.Properties.Base().Compile_multilib = multilib.String()
@@ -973,6 +982,10 @@
 	}
 }
 
+func (osInfo *osTypeSpecificInfo) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("OsType{%s}", osInfo.osType)
+}
+
 type archTypeSpecificInfo struct {
 	baseInfo
 
@@ -981,6 +994,8 @@
 	linkInfos []*linkTypeSpecificInfo
 }
 
+var _ propertiesContainer = (*archTypeSpecificInfo)(nil)
+
 // Create a new archTypeSpecificInfo for the specified arch type and its properties
 // structures populated with information from the variants.
 func newArchSpecificInfo(ctx android.SdkMemberContext, archType android.ArchType, variantPropertiesFactory variantPropertiesFactoryFunc, archVariants []android.Module) *archTypeSpecificInfo {
@@ -1038,12 +1053,12 @@
 
 // Optimize the properties by extracting common properties from link type specific
 // properties into arch type specific properties.
-func (archInfo *archTypeSpecificInfo) optimizeProperties(commonValueExtractor *commonValueExtractor) {
+func (archInfo *archTypeSpecificInfo) optimizeProperties(ctx *memberContext, commonValueExtractor *commonValueExtractor) {
 	if len(archInfo.linkInfos) == 0 {
 		return
 	}
 
-	commonValueExtractor.extractCommonProperties(archInfo.Properties, archInfo.linkInfos)
+	extractCommonProperties(ctx.sdkMemberContext, commonValueExtractor, archInfo.Properties, archInfo.linkInfos)
 }
 
 // Add the properties for an arch type to a property set.
@@ -1058,12 +1073,18 @@
 	}
 }
 
+func (archInfo *archTypeSpecificInfo) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("ArchType{%s}", archInfo.archType)
+}
+
 type linkTypeSpecificInfo struct {
 	baseInfo
 
 	linkType string
 }
 
+var _ propertiesContainer = (*linkTypeSpecificInfo)(nil)
+
 // Create a new linkTypeSpecificInfo for the specified link type and its properties
 // structures populated with information from the variant.
 func newLinkSpecificInfo(ctx android.SdkMemberContext, linkType string, variantPropertiesFactory variantPropertiesFactoryFunc, linkVariant android.Module) *linkTypeSpecificInfo {
@@ -1079,6 +1100,10 @@
 	return linkInfo
 }
 
+func (l *linkTypeSpecificInfo) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("LinkType{%s}", l.linkType)
+}
+
 type memberContext struct {
 	sdkMemberContext android.ModuleContext
 	builder          *snapshotBuilder
@@ -1143,11 +1168,11 @@
 		osSpecificPropertiesContainers = append(osSpecificPropertiesContainers, osInfo)
 
 		// Optimize the properties across all the variants for a specific os type.
-		osInfo.optimizeProperties(commonValueExtractor)
+		osInfo.optimizeProperties(ctx, commonValueExtractor)
 	}
 
 	// Extract properties which are common across all architectures and os types.
-	commonValueExtractor.extractCommonProperties(commonProperties, osSpecificPropertiesContainers)
+	extractCommonProperties(ctx.sdkMemberContext, commonValueExtractor, commonProperties, osSpecificPropertiesContainers)
 
 	// Add the common properties to the module.
 	commonProperties.AddToPropertySet(ctx, bpModule)
@@ -1192,6 +1217,9 @@
 
 // A property that can be optimized by the commonValueExtractor.
 type extractorProperty struct {
+	// The name of the field for this property.
+	name string
+
 	// Retrieves the value on which common value optimization will be performed.
 	getter fieldAccessorFunc
 
@@ -1199,6 +1227,10 @@
 	emptyValue reflect.Value
 }
 
+func (p extractorProperty) String() string {
+	return p.name
+}
+
 // Supports extracting common values from a number of instances of a properties
 // structure into a separate common set of properties.
 type commonValueExtractor struct {
@@ -1240,6 +1272,9 @@
 
 		// Save a copy of the field index for use in the function.
 		fieldIndex := f
+
+		name := field.Name
+
 		fieldGetter := func(value reflect.Value) reflect.Value {
 			if containingStructAccessor != nil {
 				// This is an embedded structure so first access the field for the embedded
@@ -1250,6 +1285,12 @@
 			// Skip through interface and pointer values to find the structure.
 			value = getStructValue(value)
 
+			defer func() {
+				if r := recover(); r != nil {
+					panic(fmt.Errorf("%s for fieldIndex %d of field %s of value %#v", r, fieldIndex, name, value.Interface()))
+				}
+			}()
+
 			// Return the field.
 			return value.Field(fieldIndex)
 		}
@@ -1259,6 +1300,7 @@
 			e.gatherFields(field.Type, fieldGetter)
 		} else {
 			property := extractorProperty{
+				name,
 				fieldGetter,
 				reflect.Zero(field.Type),
 			}
@@ -1288,12 +1330,15 @@
 // Allows additional information to be associated with the properties, e.g. for
 // filtering.
 type propertiesContainer interface {
+	fmt.Stringer
+
 	// Get the properties that need optimizing.
 	optimizableProperties() interface{}
 }
 
 // A wrapper for dynamic member properties to allow them to be optimized.
 type dynamicMemberPropertiesContainer struct {
+	sdkVariant              *sdk
 	dynamicMemberProperties interface{}
 }
 
@@ -1301,6 +1346,10 @@
 	return c.dynamicMemberProperties
 }
 
+func (c dynamicMemberPropertiesContainer) String() string {
+	return c.sdkVariant.String()
+}
+
 // Extract common properties from a slice of property structures of the same type.
 //
 // All the property structures must be of the same type.
@@ -1311,7 +1360,7 @@
 // have the same value (using DeepEquals) across all the input properties. If it does not then no
 // change is made. Otherwise, the common value is stored in the field in the commonProperties
 // and the field in each of the input properties structure is set to its default value.
-func (e *commonValueExtractor) extractCommonProperties(commonProperties interface{}, inputPropertiesSlice interface{}) {
+func (e *commonValueExtractor) extractCommonProperties(commonProperties interface{}, inputPropertiesSlice interface{}) error {
 	commonPropertiesValue := reflect.ValueOf(commonProperties)
 	commonStructValue := commonPropertiesValue.Elem()
 
@@ -1356,4 +1405,6 @@
 			}
 		}
 	}
+
+	return nil
 }