@@ -180,9 +180,9 @@
 
 			local function scanParents(doc)
 				for i, p in ipairs(doc.parents) do
 					-- TODO figure out a way to ref the embedding section
-					local o,i,s = checkFromSec(nil, p)
+					local o,i,s = checkFromSec(doc.defined_in_parent_section, p)
 					if o or s then return o,i,s end
 				end
 				-- breadth-first search
 				for i, p in ipairs(doc.parents) do
@@ -214,9 +214,9 @@
 
 			o,i,s = scanParents(self.doc)
 			if o or s then return o,i,s end
 
-			self:fail("ID “%s” does not name an object or section", id)
+			self:fail("ID “%s” does not name an object or section %s", id, self.invocation or "NIL")
 		end
 	};
 }
 
@@ -345,8 +345,9 @@
 			newdoc.meta = self.meta
 			newdoc.ext = self.ext
 			newdoc.enc = self.enc
 			newdoc.stage = self.stage
+			newdoc.defined_in_parent_section = ctx.sec
 			-- vars are handled through proper recursion across all parents and
 			-- are intentionally excluded here; subdocs can have their own vars
 			-- without losing access to parent vars
 			local nctx = ctx:clone()