diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index d67a3584a..6cdeb053f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -402,8 +402,7 @@ jobs:
                             -DCMAKE_CXX_STANDARD=11 \
                             -DPYTHON_EXECUTABLE=$(python3 -c "import sys; print(sys.executable)") \
                             -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="-Wc,--pending_instantiations=0" \
-                            -DPYBIND11_TEST_FILTER="test_smart_ptr.cpp;test_virtual_functions.cpp" \
-                            -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
+                            -DPYBIND11_TEST_FILTER="test_smart_ptr.cpp;test_virtual_functions.cpp"\
 
     # Building before installing Pip should produce a warning but not an error
     - name: Build
diff --git a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
index 4822b2e03..c92da7dad 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ public:
             try {
                 m_lazy_what = detail::error_string(m_type.ptr(), m_value.ptr(), m_trace.ptr());
             } catch (...) {
-                return "Unknown internal error occurred";
+                m_lazy_what = "Unknown internal error occurred";
             }
         }
         return m_lazy_what.c_str();