diff --git a/vortex-array/src/arrays/assertions.rs b/vortex-array/src/arrays/assertions.rs
index ef409f2af23..9be7a8c16c6 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/arrays/assertions.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/arrays/assertions.rs
@@ -4,11 +4,38 @@
 use std::fmt::Display;
 
 use itertools::Itertools;
+use vortex_error::VortexExpect;
 
-pub fn format_indices<I: IntoIterator<Item = usize>>(indices: I) -> impl Display {
+use crate::ArrayRef;
+use crate::DynArray;
+use crate::ExecutionCtx;
+use crate::IntoArray;
+use crate::LEGACY_SESSION;
+use crate::RecursiveCanonical;
+use crate::VortexSessionExecute;
+
+fn format_indices<I: IntoIterator<Item = usize>>(indices: I) -> impl Display {
     indices.into_iter().format(",")
 }
 
+/// Executes an array to recursive canonical form with the given execution context.
+fn execute_to_canonical(array: ArrayRef, ctx: &mut ExecutionCtx) -> ArrayRef {
+    array
+        .execute::<RecursiveCanonical>(ctx)
+        .vortex_expect("failed to execute array to recursive canonical form")
+        .0
+        .into_array()
+}
+
+/// Finds indices where two arrays differ based on `scalar_at` comparison.
+#[expect(clippy::unwrap_used)]
+fn find_mismatched_indices(left: &ArrayRef, right: &ArrayRef) -> Vec<usize> {
+    assert_eq!(left.len(), right.len());
+    (0..left.len())
+        .filter(|i| left.scalar_at(*i).unwrap() != right.scalar_at(*i).unwrap())
+        .collect()
+}
+
 /// Asserts that the scalar at position `$n` in array `$arr` equals `$expected`.
 ///
 /// This is a convenience macro for testing that avoids verbose scalar comparison code.
@@ -51,37 +78,64 @@ macro_rules! assert_arrays_eq {
     ($left:expr, $right:expr) => {{
         let left = $left.clone();
         let right = $right.clone();
-        if left.dtype() != right.dtype() {
-            panic!(
-                "assertion left == right failed: arrays differ in type: {} != {}.\n  left: {}\n right: {}",
-                left.dtype(),
-                right.dtype(),
-                left.display_values(),
-                right.display_values()
-            )
-        }
+        assert_eq!(
+            left.dtype(),
+            right.dtype(),
+            "assertion left == right failed: arrays differ in type: {} != {}.\n  left: {}\n right: {}",
+            left.dtype(),
+            right.dtype(),
+            left.display_values(),
+            right.display_values()
+        );
 
-        if left.len() != right.len() {
-            panic!(
-                "assertion left == right failed: arrays differ in length: {} != {}.\n  left: {}\n right: {}",
-                left.len(),
-                right.len(),
-                left.display_values(),
-                right.display_values()
-            )
-        }
+        assert_eq!(
+            left.len(),
+            right.len(),
+            "assertion left == right failed: arrays differ in length: {} != {}.\n  left: {}\n right: {}",
+            left.len(),
+            right.len(),
+            left.display_values(),
+            right.display_values()
+        );
 
-        let n = left.len();
-        let mismatched_indices = (0..n)
-            .filter(|i| left.scalar_at(*i).unwrap() != right.scalar_at(*i).unwrap())
-            .collect::<Vec<_>>();
-        if mismatched_indices.len() != 0 {
-            panic!(
-                "assertion left == right failed: arrays do not match at indices: {}.\n  left: {}\n right: {}",
-                $crate::arrays::format_indices(mismatched_indices),
-                left.display_values(),
-                right.display_values()
-            )
-        }
+        #[allow(deprecated)]
+        let left = left.to_array();
+        #[allow(deprecated)]
+        let right = right.to_array();
+        $crate::arrays::assert_arrays_eq_impl(&left, &right);
     }};
 }
+
+/// Implementation of `assert_arrays_eq!` — called by the macro after converting inputs to
+/// `ArrayRef`.
+#[track_caller]
+#[allow(clippy::panic)]
+pub fn assert_arrays_eq_impl(left: &ArrayRef, right: &ArrayRef) {
+    let executed = execute_to_canonical(left.clone(), &mut LEGACY_SESSION.create_execution_ctx());
+
+    let left_right = find_mismatched_indices(left, right);
+    let executed_right = find_mismatched_indices(&executed, right);
+
+    if !left_right.is_empty() || !executed_right.is_empty() {
+        let mut msg = String::new();
+        if !left_right.is_empty() {
+            msg.push_str(&format!(
+                "\n  left != right at indices: {}",
+                format_indices(left_right)
+            ));
+        }
+        if !executed_right.is_empty() {
+            msg.push_str(&format!(
+                "\n  executed != right at indices: {}",
+                format_indices(executed_right)
+            ));
+        }
+        panic!(
+            "assertion failed: arrays do not match:{}\n     left: {}\n    right: {}\n executed: {}",
+            msg,
+            left.display_values(),
+            right.display_values(),
+            executed.display_values()
+        )
+    }
+}
diff --git a/vortex-array/src/arrays/mod.rs b/vortex-array/src/arrays/mod.rs
index 43f8a84d49e..947116a5f73 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/arrays/mod.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/arrays/mod.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 mod assertions;
 
 #[cfg(any(test, feature = "_test-harness"))]
-pub use assertions::format_indices;
+pub use assertions::assert_arrays_eq_impl;
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod validation_tests;