diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/J2ktIncompatible.java b/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/J2ktIncompatible.java
index 45e14be0c..3ac74695f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/J2ktIncompatible.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/J2ktIncompatible.java
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 
 package com.google.common.truth;
 
-import com.google.common.annotations.GwtCompatible;
 import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
 import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
 import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
@@ -26,5 +25,4 @@
  */
 @Retention(RetentionPolicy.CLASS)
 @Target({ElementType.TYPE, ElementType.METHOD, ElementType.CONSTRUCTOR, ElementType.FIELD})
-@GwtCompatible
 @interface J2ktIncompatible {}
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/Platform.java b/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/Platform.java
index 32b9461c6..fd589c75a 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/Platform.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/Platform.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 import static com.google.common.base.Throwables.throwIfUnchecked;
 import static com.google.common.truth.DiffUtils.generateUnifiedDiff;
 import static com.google.common.truth.Fact.fact;
+import static com.google.common.truth.SneakyThrows.sneakyThrow;
 
 import com.google.common.base.Joiner;
 import com.google.common.base.Splitter;
@@ -254,9 +255,8 @@ static AssertionError makeComparisonFailure(
     try {
       return constructor.newInstance(messages, facts, expected, actual, cause);
     } catch (InvocationTargetException e) {
-      throwIfUnchecked(e.getCause());
       // That constructor has no `throws` clause.
-      throw newLinkageError(e);
+      throw sneakyThrow(e.getCause());
     } catch (InstantiationException e) {
       // The class is a concrete class.
       throw newLinkageError(e);
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/SneakyThrows.java b/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/SneakyThrows.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9e0673e89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/SneakyThrows.java
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2015 Google, Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.google.common.truth;
+
+import com.google.errorprone.annotations.CanIgnoreReturnValue;
+
+/** Static utility method for throwing an undeclared checked exception. */
+final class SneakyThrows<T extends Throwable> {
+  /**
+   * Throws an undeclared checked exception.
+   *
+   * @return never; this method declares a return type of {@link Error} only so that callers can
+   *     write {@code throw sneakyThrow(t);} to convince the compiler that the statement will always
+   *     throw.
+   */
+  @CanIgnoreReturnValue
+  static Error sneakyThrow(Throwable t) {
+    throw new SneakyThrows<Error>().throwIt(t);
+  }
+
+  @SuppressWarnings("unchecked") // not really safe, but that's the point
+  private Error throwIt(Throwable t) throws T {
+    throw (T) t;
+  }
+
+  private SneakyThrows() {}
+}
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/Subject.java b/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/Subject.java
index 6c54def99..0cae3fc2b 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/Subject.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/google/common/truth/Subject.java
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 import com.google.common.primitives.Chars;
 import com.google.common.primitives.Ints;
 import com.google.common.primitives.Longs;
+import com.google.common.primitives.Primitives;
 import com.google.common.primitives.Shorts;
 import com.google.common.truth.FailureMetadata.OldAndNewValuesAreSimilar;
 import com.google.errorprone.annotations.DoNotCall;
@@ -349,12 +350,9 @@ public void isNotInstanceOf(Class<?> clazz) {
   private static boolean isInstanceOfType(Object instance, Class<?> clazz) {
     checkArgument(
         !clazz.isPrimitive(),
-        "Cannot check instanceof for primitive type %s. Pass the wrapper class instead.",
-        clazz.getSimpleName());
-    /*
-     * TODO(cpovirk): Make the message include `Primitives.wrap(clazz).getSimpleName()` once that
-     * method is available in a public guava-gwt release that we depend on.
-     */
+        "Cannot check instanceof for primitive type %s. Pass the wrapper class %s instead.",
+        clazz.getSimpleName(),
+        Primitives.wrap(clazz).getSimpleName());
     return Platform.isInstanceOfType(instance, clazz);
   }