diff --git a/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.EFCore/Implementation/UnitOfWork/EFRecoverabilityIngestionUnitOfWork.cs b/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.EFCore/Implementation/UnitOfWork/EFRecoverabilityIngestionUnitOfWork.cs
index 762ecbb7fe..6c5c4de880 100644
--- a/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.EFCore/Implementation/UnitOfWork/EFRecoverabilityIngestionUnitOfWork.cs
+++ b/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.EFCore/Implementation/UnitOfWork/EFRecoverabilityIngestionUnitOfWork.cs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ public Task RecordFailedProcessingAttempt(MessageContext context,
             Groups = groups,
             HeadersJson = MessageHeaders.Write(processingAttempt.Headers),
             MessageId = processingAttempt.MessageId,
-            MessageType = TruncateForColumn(GetMetadata<string>(processingAttempt, "MessageType")),
+            MessageType = TruncateTypeName(GetMetadata<string>(processingAttempt, "MessageType")),
             TimeSent = GetMetadata<DateTime?>(processingAttempt, "TimeSent"),
             ConversationId = GetMetadata<string>(processingAttempt, "ConversationId"),
             SendingEndpointName = sendingEndpoint?.Name,
@@ -70,13 +70,10 @@ public Task RecordSuccessfulRetry(string retriedMessageUniqueId, DateTime succee
     }
 
     // The MessageType column is length-bounded (ColumnLengths.ShortTextLength) so that it can be
-    // an index key serving sort=message_type. The cap is enforced here, like the body size limit
-    // above, because it is an EFCore storage limit the persister owns rather than a shared
-    // ingestion rule. EnclosedMessageTypes' first comma token is a type's full name, so the cap can
-    // only ever bite on pathological generic names, where a truncated sort key still sorts and
-    // groups consistently.
-    static string? TruncateForColumn(string? value) =>
-        value is { Length: > ColumnLengths.ShortTextLength } ? value[..ColumnLengths.ShortTextLength] : value;
+    // an index key serving sort=message_type. This field contains a type name, so it's more useful to 
+    // truncate from the start of the name instead of the end.
+    static string? TruncateTypeName(string? value) =>
+        value is { Length: > ColumnLengths.ShortTextLength } ? value[^ColumnLengths.ShortTextLength..] : value;
 
     static T? GetMetadata<T>(FailedMessage.ProcessingAttempt processingAttempt, string key) =>
         processingAttempt.MessageMetadata.TryGetValue(key, out var value) && value is T typed ? typed : default;
diff --git a/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.EFCore/Infrastructure/FailureGroupQueries.cs b/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.EFCore/Infrastructure/FailureGroupQueries.cs
index 0c31a96178..e08f1dc240 100644
--- a/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.EFCore/Infrastructure/FailureGroupQueries.cs
+++ b/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.EFCore/Infrastructure/FailureGroupQueries.cs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ static class FailureGroupQueries
     public const int MaxGroups = 200;
 
     /// <summary>
-    /// Aggregate with Title in the group key. Used by <see cref="GroupsDataStore.SingleGroup" />
+    /// Aggregate with Title in the group key. Used by <see cref="Implementation.GroupsDataStore.SingleGroup" />
     /// where a single group is fetched and the nvarchar(max) Title cost is negligible.
     /// </summary>
     public static IQueryable<FailureGroupView> AggregateGroups(this IQueryable<FailedMessageGroupEntity> groups, IQueryable<FailedMessageEntity> messages) =>
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ into aggregate
 /// </summary>
 sealed class GroupSummary
 {
-    public string Id { get; set; } = null!;
-    public string Type { get; set; } = null!;
+    public required string Id { get; set; }
+    public required string Type { get; set; }
     public int Count { get; set; }
     public DateTime First { get; set; }
     public DateTime Last { get; set; }
diff --git a/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.Tests/EFCore/ErrorIngestionTests.cs b/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.Tests/EFCore/ErrorIngestionTests.cs
index 3dda29fcf2..b926be9e25 100644
--- a/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.Tests/EFCore/ErrorIngestionTests.cs
+++ b/src/ServiceControl.Persistence.Tests/EFCore/ErrorIngestionTests.cs
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ public async Task An_over_length_message_type_is_capped_in_the_column_but_kept_i
 
         using (Assert.EnterMultipleScope())
         {
-            Assert.That(row.MessageType, Is.EqualTo(overLengthType[..450]));
+            Assert.That(row.MessageType!.Length, Is.EqualTo(450));
+            Assert.That(overLengthType.EndsWith(row.MessageType), Is.True, "the column is truncated from the start");
             Assert.That(row.HeadersJson, Does.Contain(overLengthType), "the headers keep the complete type");
         }
     }