diff --git a/packages/utils/src/index.ts b/packages/utils/src/index.ts
index fe49542..0441153 100644
--- a/packages/utils/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/utils/src/index.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ export function coerceString(value: unknown): string | null {
 export function getErrorMessage(error: unknown, fallback: string): string {
   if (error instanceof Error) {
     // viem's BaseError extends Error and exposes a terse shortMessage; prefer it.
-    const short = coerceString((error as Record<string, unknown>).shortMessage);
+    const short = coerceString((error as unknown as Record<string, unknown>).shortMessage);
     if (short) return short;
     const msg = coerceString(error.message);
     if (msg) return msg;