diff --git a/R/list-transpose.R b/R/list-transpose.R
index 8112f65a..390101cb 100644
--- a/R/list-transpose.R
+++ b/R/list-transpose.R
@@ -74,8 +74,12 @@ list_transpose <- function(x,
 
   if (length(x) == 0) {
     template <- integer()
-  } else {
-    template <- template %||% reduce(map(x, vec_index), vec_set_union)
+  } else if (is.null(template)) {
+    template <- reduce(
+      map(x, vec_index),
+      vec_set_union,
+      error_call = caller_env()
+    )
   }
 
   if (!is.character(template) && !is.numeric(template)) {
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/list-transpose.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/list-transpose.md
index d5aedd22..92809b55 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/list-transpose.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/list-transpose.md
@@ -69,6 +69,6 @@
     Code
       list_transpose(list(x = list(a = 1, b = 2), y = list(3, 4)))
     Condition
-      Error in `fn()`:
+      Error:
       ! Can't combine `x` <character> and `y` <integer>.