diff --git a/helpers/check_dynamic_dependencies.py b/helpers/check_dynamic_dependencies.py
index e91e8cb43fea..bd22672466ed 100644
--- a/helpers/check_dynamic_dependencies.py
+++ b/helpers/check_dynamic_dependencies.py
@@ -2,13 +2,22 @@
 """Helper script for checking versions in the dynamic symbol table.
 
 This script checks that LightGBM library is linked to the appropriate symbol versions.
+
+Linking to newer symbol versions at compile time is problematic because it could result
+in built artifacts being unusable on older platforms.
+
+Version history for these symbols can be found at the following:
+
+* GLIBC: https://sourceware.org/glibc/wiki/Glibc%20Timeline
+* GLIBCXX: https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/libstdc++/manual/abi.html
+* OMP/GOMP: https://github.com/gcc-mirror/gcc/blob/master/libgomp/libgomp.map
 """
 import re
 import sys
 from pathlib import Path
 
 
-def check_dependicies(objdump_string: str) -> None:
+def check_dependencies(objdump_string: str) -> None:
     """Check the dynamic symbol versions.
 
     Parameters
@@ -20,24 +29,27 @@ def check_dependicies(objdump_string: str) -> None:
     versions = GLIBC_version.findall(objdump_string)
     assert len(versions) > 1
     for major, minor in versions:
-        assert int(major) <= 2
-        assert int(minor) <= 28
+        error_msg = f"found unexpected GLIBC version: '{major}.{minor}'"
+        assert int(major) <= 2, error_msg
+        assert int(minor) <= 28, error_msg
 
     GLIBCXX_version = re.compile(r'0{16}[ \t]+GLIBCXX_(\d{1,2})[.](\d{1,2})[.]?(\d{,3})[ \t]+')
     versions = GLIBCXX_version.findall(objdump_string)
     assert len(versions) > 1
     for major, minor, patch in versions:
-        assert int(major) == 3
-        assert int(minor) == 4
-        assert patch == '' or int(patch) <= 22
+        error_msg = f"found unexpected GLIBCXX version: '{major}.{minor}.{patch}'"
+        assert int(major) == 3, error_msg
+        assert int(minor) == 4, error_msg
+        assert patch == '' or int(patch) <= 22, error_msg
 
     GOMP_version = re.compile(r'0{16}[ \t]+G?OMP_(\d{1,2})[.](\d{1,2})[.]?\d{,3}[ \t]+')
     versions = GOMP_version.findall(objdump_string)
     assert len(versions) > 1
     for major, minor in versions:
-        assert int(major) <= 4
-        assert int(minor) <= 5
+        error_msg = f"found unexpected OMP/GOMP version: '{major}.{minor}'"
+        assert int(major) <= 4, error_msg
+        assert int(minor) <= 5, error_msg
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    check_dependicies(Path(sys.argv[1]).read_text(encoding='utf-8'))
+    check_dependencies(Path(sys.argv[1]).read_text(encoding='utf-8'))