diff --git a/UPGRADE.md b/UPGRADE.md
index e6a61238a89..71c2fc9a7b2 100644
--- a/UPGRADE.md
+++ b/UPGRADE.md
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 # Upgrade to 3.0
 
+## BC BREAK: Calling `ClassMetadata::getAssociationMappedByTargetField()` with the owning side of an association now throws an exception
+
+Previously, calling
+`Doctrine\ORM\Mapping\ClassMetadata::getAssociationMappedByTargetField()` with
+the owning side of an association returned `null`, which was undocumented, and
+wrong according to the phpdoc of the parent method.
+
+If you do not know whether you are on the owning or inverse side of an association,
+you can use  `Doctrine\ORM\Mapping\ClassMetadata::isAssociationInverseSide()`
+to find out.
+
 ## BC BREAK: `Doctrine\ORM\Proxy\Autoloader` no longer extends `Doctrine\Common\Proxy\Autoloader`
 
 Make sure to use the former when writing a type declaration or an `instanceof` check.
diff --git a/src/Mapping/ClassMetadata.php b/src/Mapping/ClassMetadata.php
index b3d7838cce6..8cd2767889e 100644
--- a/src/Mapping/ClassMetadata.php
+++ b/src/Mapping/ClassMetadata.php
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 use function ltrim;
 use function method_exists;
 use function spl_object_id;
+use function sprintf;
 use function str_contains;
 use function str_replace;
 use function strtolower;
@@ -2457,9 +2458,20 @@ public function isAssociationInverseSide(string $assocName): bool
 
     public function getAssociationMappedByTargetField(string $assocName): string
     {
-        $assoc = $this->associationMappings[$assocName];
+        $assoc = $this->getAssociationMapping($assocName);
 
-        assert($assoc instanceof InverseSideMapping);
+        if (! $assoc instanceof InverseSideMapping) {
+            throw new LogicException(sprintf(
+                <<<'EXCEPTION'
+                Context: Calling %s() with "%s", which is the owning side of an association.
+                Problem: The owning side of an association has no "mappedBy" field.
+                Solution: Call %s::isAssociationInverseSide() to check first.
+                EXCEPTION,
+                __METHOD__,
+                $assocName,
+                self::class,
+            ));
+        }
 
         return $assoc->mappedBy;
     }
diff --git a/tests/Tests/ORM/Mapping/ClassMetadataTest.php b/tests/Tests/ORM/Mapping/ClassMetadataTest.php
index edd05959408..c83960daf83 100644
--- a/tests/Tests/ORM/Mapping/ClassMetadataTest.php
+++ b/tests/Tests/ORM/Mapping/ClassMetadataTest.php
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 use Doctrine\Tests\ORM\Mapping\TypedFieldMapper\CustomIntAsStringTypedFieldMapper;
 use Doctrine\Tests\OrmTestCase;
 use DoctrineGlobalArticle;
+use LogicException;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Group as TestGroup;
 use ReflectionClass;
 use stdClass;
@@ -1054,6 +1055,21 @@ public function testItAddingLifecycleCallbackOnEmbeddedClassIsIllegal(): void
 
         $metadata->addLifecycleCallback('foo', 'bar');
     }
+
+    public function testItThrowsOnInvalidCallToGetAssociationMappedByTargetField(): void
+    {
+        $metadata = new ClassMetadata(self::class);
+        $metadata->mapOneToOne(['fieldName' => 'foo', 'targetEntity' => 'bar']);
+
+        $this->expectException(LogicException::class);
+        $this->expectExceptionMessage(<<<'EXCEPTION'
+            Context: Calling Doctrine\ORM\Mapping\ClassMetadata::getAssociationMappedByTargetField() with "foo", which is the owning side of an association.
+            Problem: The owning side of an association has no "mappedBy" field.
+            Solution: Call Doctrine\ORM\Mapping\ClassMetadata::isAssociationInverseSide() to check first.
+            EXCEPTION);
+
+        $metadata->getAssociationMappedByTargetField('foo');
+    }
 }
 
 #[MappedSuperclass]