src/cmd/compile/internal/types2/literals.go |  9 ++++++++-
 src/go/types/literals.go                    |  9 ++++++++-
 test/fixedbugs/issue28053.dir/a.go          | 10 ++++++++++
 test/fixedbugs/issue28053.dir/main.go       | 11 +++++++++++
 test/fixedbugs/issue28053.go                |  7 +++++++

diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/types2/literals.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/types2/literals.go
index ecd2c209fe2260c6035fb05967d536d8e96d5119..3cef03626959540b6d41aade9a240d6b5a18170f 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/types2/literals.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/types2/literals.go
@@ -229,7 +229,14 @@ 				etyp := fld.typ
 				check.assignment(x, etyp, "struct literal")
 			}
 			if len(e.ElemList) < len(fields) {
-				check.errorf(inNode(e, e.Rbrace), InvalidStructLit, "too few values in struct literal of type %s", base)
+				var hint string
+				for _, fld := range fields {
+					if !fld.Exported() && fld.pkg != check.pkg {
+						hint = " (type has unexported fields - use key:value pairs)"
+						break
+					}
+				}
+				check.errorf(inNode(e, e.Rbrace), InvalidStructLit, "too few values in struct literal of type %s%s", base, hint)
 				// ok to continue
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/src/go/types/literals.go b/src/go/types/literals.go
index b0f360e43c176d6ae14cdac5f547395710769641..5b5fcf64efc24d4e9ecdd151b70eb898d7327096 100644
--- a/src/go/types/literals.go
+++ b/src/go/types/literals.go
@@ -233,7 +233,14 @@ 				etyp := fld.typ
 				check.assignment(x, etyp, "struct literal")
 			}
 			if len(e.Elts) < len(fields) {
-				check.errorf(inNode(e, e.Rbrace), InvalidStructLit, "too few values in struct literal of type %s", base)
+				var hint string
+				for _, fld := range fields {
+					if !fld.Exported() && fld.pkg != check.pkg {
+						hint = " (type has unexported fields - use key:value pairs)"
+						break
+					}
+				}
+				check.errorf(inNode(e, e.Rbrace), InvalidStructLit, "too few values in struct literal of type %s%s", base, hint)
 				// ok to continue
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/test/fixedbugs/issue28053.dir/a.go b/test/fixedbugs/issue28053.dir/a.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d502011de6bd2638fa93b2cb6cc4736666d11079
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixedbugs/issue28053.dir/a.go
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+// Copyright 2026 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package p
+
+type S struct {
+	Exported   int
+	unexported int
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/fixedbugs/issue28053.dir/main.go b/test/fixedbugs/issue28053.dir/main.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d6f2a8fa3890742c18569585acc43fb9319cf4e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixedbugs/issue28053.dir/main.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+// Copyright 2026 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package main
+
+import "./a"
+
+func main() {
+	_ = p.S{1} // ERROR "too few values.*unexported fields"
+}
diff --git a/test/fixedbugs/issue28053.go b/test/fixedbugs/issue28053.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..511704dad03bcf690c01d0b2f14982fe6e50ad04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixedbugs/issue28053.go
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+// errorcheckdir
+
+// Copyright 2026 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package ignored