diff --git a/lib/check.ml b/lib/check.ml
index ade1447..576cb6c 100644
--- a/lib/check.ml
+++ b/lib/check.ml
@@ -2038,6 +2038,17 @@ and named_call ctx ~want loc name args =
   | "embed" ->
     (match args with
      | [ p ] | [ p; _ ] ->
+       (* The spelling is settled before the file is opened, so a program that
+          asks for a type embed cannot read a file as is told that, rather than
+          being told the file is missing and left to discover the other half
+          after fixing it. *)
+       (match args with
+        | [ _; { Ast.e = Ast.Var "string"; _ } ] | [ _ ] -> ()
+        | [ _; t ] ->
+          fail t.Ast.loc
+            "embed's second argument is the type to read the file as, and \
+             `string` is the only one — (embed \"p\") is the [u8]"
+        | _ -> ());
        let data = read_embed_file (embed_path loc p) p.Ast.loc in
        let as_string () = mk loc Types.String (Tast.Str data) in
        (* A [Str] node typed [u8] rather than a [Bytes] prim over one. [Bytes]
@@ -2055,10 +2066,6 @@ and named_call ctx ~want loc name args =
        (match args with
         | [ _; { Ast.e = Ast.Var "string"; _ } ] ->
           expect loc ~want (as_string ())
-        | [ _; t ] ->
-          fail t.Ast.loc
-            "embed's second argument is the type to read the file as, and \
-             `string` is the only one — (embed \"p\") is the [u8]"
         | _ ->
           (match want with
            | Some Types.String -> as_string ()
diff --git a/test/test_acceptance.ml b/test/test_acceptance.ml
index 18ddf93..363673b 100644
--- a/test/test_acceptance.ml
+++ b/test/test_acceptance.ml
@@ -360,6 +360,25 @@ let () =
       "(defn main [] i32 (restart-case 0 (use-value [v i32] v))\n\
       \  (invoke-restart 'use-value (println \"\")) 0)"
       "a restart argument must be a value";
+    (* An embed reads the bytes before any value exists, so the path has to be
+       a literal - Odin's rule and for Odin's reason (check_load_directive
+       refuses anything that is not Addressing_Constant). This is the refusal
+       that keeps the result genuinely free at run time. *)
+    refuses_src "an embedded path that is computed"
+      "(defn main [] i32 (let [p \"x\"] (len (embed p))))"
+      "must be a literal string";
+    (* A file that is not there is a compile error naming it, not an empty
+       embed: an asset silently missing is the class of quiet wrongness this
+       whole feature exists to remove. *)
+    refuses_src "an embedded file that does not exist"
+      "(defn main [] i32 (len (embed \"no-such-asset.bin\")))"
+      "cannot embed";
+    (* One extra argument, and `string` is the only thing it can be. Two
+       spellings, not one form that changes type with its context. *)
+    refuses_src "embed asked for a type it cannot read a file as"
+      "(defn main [] i32 (len (embed \"no-such-asset.bin\" i32)))"
+      "`string` is the only one";
+
     (* Allocators, spec-memory.md. The tier on its own, with no container
        above it, so that a failure here is not read as a Vec bug. What is
        asserted is the capability set differing per allocator, the context