diff --git a/src/gui/src/ScreenSetupModel.cpp b/src/gui/src/ScreenSetupModel.cpp
index 6a4830351..39e217b5a 100644
--- a/src/gui/src/ScreenSetupModel.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/src/ScreenSetupModel.cpp
@@ -33,13 +33,18 @@ ScreenSetupModel::ScreenSetupModel(
 
   // bound rows and columns to prevent multiply overflow.
   // this is unlikely to happen, as the grid size is only 3x9.
-  assert(m_NumColumns < 100 && m_NumRows < 100);
-
-  if (m_NumColumns * m_NumRows > screens.size())
+  if (m_NumColumns > 100 || m_NumRows > 100) {
     qFatal(
-        "Not enough elements (%lld) in screens QList for %d columns and %d "
-        "rows",
-        screens.size(), m_NumColumns, m_NumRows);
+        "Grid size out of bounds: %d columns x %d rows", m_NumColumns,
+        m_NumRows);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  if (m_NumColumns * m_NumRows > screens.size()) {
+    qFatal(
+        "Scrren list (%lld) too small for %d columns x %d rows", screens.size(),
+        m_NumColumns, m_NumRows);
+  }
 }
 
 QVariant ScreenSetupModel::data(const QModelIndex &index, int role) const {