diff --git a/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/CreateAttachmentsHandler.java b/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/CreateAttachmentsHandler.java
index 6a10baf6..8372bc68 100644
--- a/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/CreateAttachmentsHandler.java
+++ b/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/CreateAttachmentsHandler.java
@@ -82,10 +82,12 @@ void restoreError(EventContext context) {
         String maxSizeStr = (String) context.get("attachment.MaxSize");
         if (maxSizeStr != null) {
           throw new ServiceException(
-              ExtendedErrorStatuses.CONTENT_TOO_LARGE, "AttachmentSizeExceeded", maxSizeStr);
+              ExtendedErrorStatuses.CONTENT_TOO_LARGE,
+              "File size exceeds the limit of {}.",
+              maxSizeStr);
         }
         throw new ServiceException(
-            ExtendedErrorStatuses.CONTENT_TOO_LARGE, "AttachmentSizeExceeded");
+            ExtendedErrorStatuses.CONTENT_TOO_LARGE, "File size exceeds the limit.");
       }
       throw e;
     }
diff --git a/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/helper/ModifyApplicationHandlerHelper.java b/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/helper/ModifyApplicationHandlerHelper.java
index 7f502489..2c315bbe 100644
--- a/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/helper/ModifyApplicationHandlerHelper.java
+++ b/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/helper/ModifyApplicationHandlerHelper.java
@@ -94,7 +94,9 @@ public static InputStream handleAttachmentForEntity(
         maxSizeStr); // make max size available in context for error handling later
     ServiceException tooLargeException =
         new ServiceException(
-            ExtendedErrorStatuses.CONTENT_TOO_LARGE, "AttachmentSizeExceeded", maxSizeStr);
+            ExtendedErrorStatuses.CONTENT_TOO_LARGE,
+            "File size exceeds the limit of {}.",
+            maxSizeStr);
 
     if (contentLength != null) {
       try {
diff --git a/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/readhelper/CountingInputStream.java b/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/readhelper/CountingInputStream.java
index db4ec377..f297e0ad 100644
--- a/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/readhelper/CountingInputStream.java
+++ b/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/readhelper/CountingInputStream.java
@@ -81,7 +81,9 @@ private void checkLimit(long bytes) {
     byteCount += bytes;
     if (byteCount > maxBytes) {
       throw new ServiceException(
-          ExtendedErrorStatuses.CONTENT_TOO_LARGE, "AttachmentSizeExceeded", maxBytesString);
+          ExtendedErrorStatuses.CONTENT_TOO_LARGE,
+          "File size exceeds the limit of {}.",
+          maxBytesString);
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/resources/messages.properties b/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/resources/messages.properties
deleted file mode 100644
index e9af11c9..00000000
--- a/cds-feature-attachments/src/main/resources/messages.properties
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-AttachmentSizeExceeded = File size exceeds the limit of {0}.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cds-feature-attachments/src/test/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/CreateAttachmentsHandlerTest.java b/cds-feature-attachments/src/test/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/CreateAttachmentsHandlerTest.java
index 4eabcf23..f79504ff 100644
--- a/cds-feature-attachments/src/test/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/CreateAttachmentsHandlerTest.java
+++ b/cds-feature-attachments/src/test/java/com/sap/cds/feature/attachments/handler/applicationservice/CreateAttachmentsHandlerTest.java
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ void restoreError_contentTooLargeWithMaxSize_throwsWithMaxSize() {
     var exception = assertThrows(ServiceException.class, () -> cut.restoreError(context));
 
     assertThat(exception.getErrorStatus()).isEqualTo(ExtendedErrorStatuses.CONTENT_TOO_LARGE);
-    assertThat(exception.getMessage()).contains("AttachmentSizeExceeded");
+    assertThat(exception.getMessage()).contains("File size exceeds the limit of 10MB.");
     assertThat(exception).isNotSameAs(originalException);
   }
 
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ void restoreError_contentTooLargeWithoutMaxSize_throwsWithoutMaxSize() {
     var exception = assertThrows(ServiceException.class, () -> cut.restoreError(context));
 
     assertThat(exception.getErrorStatus()).isEqualTo(ExtendedErrorStatuses.CONTENT_TOO_LARGE);
-    assertThat(exception.getMessage()).contains("AttachmentSizeExceeded");
+    assertThat(exception.getMessage()).contains("File size exceeds the limit.");
     assertThat(exception).isNotSameAs(originalException);
   }
 
diff --git a/doc/CHANGELOG.md b/doc/CHANGELOG.md
index 245c43c3..61c00e10 100644
--- a/doc/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/doc/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/).
 
+## Version 1.3.3 - 2026-03-15
+
+### Fixed
+- Fixed @Validation.Maximum error message not showing in consuming projects due to messages.properties being overwritten instead of merged. Error messages are now temporary self-contained and no longer rely on a resource bundle.
+
 ## Version 1.3.2 - 2026-03-10
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 718841d9..611b6ae0 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
   </distributionManagement>
 
   <properties>
-    <revision>1.4.0-SNAPSHOT</revision>
+    <revision>1.3.3-SNAPSHOT</revision>
     <java.version>17</java.version>
     <maven.compiler.release>${java.version}</maven.compiler.release>
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
diff --git a/samples/bookshop/pom.xml b/samples/bookshop/pom.xml
index 21d13dfb..ce37d9cf 100644
--- a/samples/bookshop/pom.xml
+++ b/samples/bookshop/pom.xml
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
 			<dependency>
 				<groupId>com.sap.cds</groupId>
 				<artifactId>cds-feature-attachments</artifactId>
-				<version>1.3.2</version>
+				<version>1.3.3</version>
 			</dependency>
 		</dependencies>
 	</dependencyManagement>