diff --git a/sea-orm-macros/src/derives/active_enum.rs b/sea-orm-macros/src/derives/active_enum.rs
index 6f6b7fbc..cd2e1c0a 100644
--- a/sea-orm-macros/src/derives/active_enum.rs
+++ b/sea-orm-macros/src/derives/active_enum.rs
@@ -1,25 +1,38 @@
 use proc_macro2::TokenStream;
 use quote::{quote, quote_spanned};
-use syn::{punctuated::Punctuated, token::Comma, Lit, Meta};
+use syn::{punctuated::Punctuated, token::Comma, Lit, LitInt, LitStr, Meta};
 
 enum Error {
     InputNotEnum,
     Syn(syn::Error),
+    TT(TokenStream),
 }
 
 struct ActiveEnum {
     ident: syn::Ident,
     rs_type: TokenStream,
     db_type: TokenStream,
-    variants: syn::punctuated::Punctuated<syn::Variant, syn::token::Comma>,
+    is_string: bool,
+    variants: Vec<ActiveEnumVariant>,
+}
+
+struct ActiveEnumVariant {
+    ident: syn::Ident,
+    string_value: Option<LitStr>,
+    num_value: Option<LitInt>,
 }
 
 impl ActiveEnum {
     fn new(input: syn::DeriveInput) -> Result<Self, Error> {
+        let ident_span = input.ident.span();
         let ident = input.ident;
 
-        let mut rs_type = None;
-        let mut db_type = None;
+        let mut rs_type = Err(Error::TT(quote_spanned! {
+            ident_span => compile_error!("Missing macro attribute `rs_type`");
+        }));
+        let mut db_type = Err(Error::TT(quote_spanned! {
+            ident_span => compile_error!("Missing macro attribute `db_type`");
+        }));
         for attr in input.attrs.iter() {
             if let Some(ident) = attr.path.get_ident() {
                 if ident != "sea_orm" {
@@ -34,11 +47,13 @@ impl ActiveEnum {
                         if let Some(name) = nv.path.get_ident() {
                             if name == "rs_type" {
                                 if let Lit::Str(litstr) = &nv.lit {
-                                    rs_type = syn::parse_str::<TokenStream>(&litstr.value()).ok();
+                                    rs_type = syn::parse_str::<TokenStream>(&litstr.value())
+                                        .map_err(Error::Syn);
                                 }
                             } else if name == "db_type" {
                                 if let Lit::Str(litstr) = &nv.lit {
-                                    db_type = syn::parse_str::<TokenStream>(&litstr.value()).ok();
+                                    db_type = syn::parse_str::<TokenStream>(&litstr.value())
+                                        .map_err(Error::Syn);
                                 }
                             }
                         }
@@ -46,18 +61,73 @@ impl ActiveEnum {
                 }
             }
         }
-        let rs_type = rs_type.expect("Missing rs_type");
-        let db_type = db_type.expect("Missing db_type");
 
-        let variants = match input.data {
+        let variant_vec = match input.data {
             syn::Data::Enum(syn::DataEnum { variants, .. }) => variants,
             _ => return Err(Error::InputNotEnum),
         };
 
+        let mut is_string = false;
+        let mut is_int = false;
+        let mut variants = Vec::new();
+        for variant in variant_vec {
+            let variant_span = variant.ident.span();
+            let mut string_value = None;
+            let mut num_value = None;
+            for attr in variant.attrs.iter() {
+                if let Some(ident) = attr.path.get_ident() {
+                    if ident != "sea_orm" {
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    continue;
+                }
+                if let Ok(list) = attr.parse_args_with(Punctuated::<Meta, Comma>::parse_terminated)
+                {
+                    for meta in list {
+                        if let Meta::NameValue(nv) = meta {
+                            if let Some(name) = nv.path.get_ident() {
+                                if name == "string_value" {
+                                    if let Lit::Str(lit) = nv.lit {
+                                        is_string = true;
+                                        string_value = Some(lit);
+                                    }
+                                } else if name == "num_value" {
+                                    if let Lit::Int(lit) = nv.lit {
+                                        is_int = true;
+                                        num_value = Some(lit);
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            if is_string && is_int {
+                return Err(Error::TT(quote_spanned! {
+                    ident_span => compile_error!("All enum variants should specify the same `*_value` macro attribute, either `string_value` or `num_value` but not both");
+                }));
+            }
+
+            if string_value.is_none() && num_value.is_none() {
+                return Err(Error::TT(quote_spanned! {
+                    variant_span => compile_error!("Missing macro attribute, either `string_value` or `num_value` should be specified");
+                }));
+            }
+
+            variants.push(ActiveEnumVariant {
+                ident: variant.ident,
+                string_value,
+                num_value,
+            });
+        }
+
         Ok(ActiveEnum {
             ident,
-            rs_type,
-            db_type,
+            rs_type: rs_type?,
+            db_type: db_type?,
+            is_string,
             variants,
         })
     }
@@ -73,6 +143,7 @@ impl ActiveEnum {
             ident,
             rs_type,
             db_type,
+            is_string,
             variants,
         } = self;
 
@@ -81,54 +152,25 @@ impl ActiveEnum {
             .map(|variant| variant.ident.clone())
             .collect();
 
-        let mut is_string = false;
-
         let variant_values: Vec<TokenStream> = variants
             .iter()
             .map(|variant| {
-                let mut string_value = None;
-                let mut num_value = None;
-                for attr in variant.attrs.iter() {
-                    if let Some(ident) = attr.path.get_ident() {
-                        if ident != "sea_orm" {
-                            continue;
-                        }
-                    } else {
-                        continue;
-                    }
-                    if let Ok(list) =
-                        attr.parse_args_with(Punctuated::<Meta, Comma>::parse_terminated)
-                    {
-                        for meta in list.iter() {
-                            if let Meta::NameValue(nv) = meta {
-                                if let Some(name) = nv.path.get_ident() {
-                                    if name == "string_value" {
-                                        if let Lit::Str(litstr) = &nv.lit {
-                                            string_value = Some(litstr.value());
-                                        }
-                                    } else if name == "num_value" {
-                                        if let Lit::Int(litstr) = &nv.lit {
-                                            num_value = litstr.base10_parse::<i32>().ok();
-                                        }
-                                    }
-                                }
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
+                let variant_span = variant.ident.span();
 
-                if let Some(string_value) = string_value {
-                    is_string = true;
-                    quote! { #string_value }
-                } else if let Some(num_value) = num_value {
+                if let Some(string_value) = &variant.string_value {
+                    let string = string_value.value();
+                    quote! { #string }
+                } else if let Some(num_value) = &variant.num_value {
                     quote! { #num_value }
                 } else {
-                    panic!("Either string_value or num_value should be specified")
+                    quote_spanned! {
+                        variant_span => compile_error!("Missing macro attribute, either `string_value` or `num_value` should be specified");
+                    }
                 }
             })
             .collect();
 
-        let val = if is_string {
+        let val = if *is_string {
             quote! { v.as_ref() }
         } else {
             quote! { v }
@@ -214,6 +256,7 @@ pub fn expand_derive_active_enum(input: syn::DeriveInput) -> syn::Result<TokenSt
         Err(Error::InputNotEnum) => Ok(quote_spanned! {
             ident_span => compile_error!("you can only derive ActiveEnum on enums");
         }),
-        Err(Error::Syn(err)) => Err(err),
+        Err(Error::TT(token_stream)) => Ok(token_stream),
+        Err(Error::Syn(e)) => Err(e),
     }
 }