diff --git a/gerrit_util.py b/gerrit_util.py
index c7555e5e7..39c3aef6d 100644
--- a/gerrit_util.py
+++ b/gerrit_util.py
@@ -511,7 +511,7 @@ def ReadHttpJsonResponse(conn, accept_statuses=frozenset([200])):
     # The first line of the response should always be: )]}'
     s = fh.readline()
     if s and s.rstrip() != ")]}'":
-        raise GerritError(200, 'Unexpected json output: %s' % s)
+        raise GerritError(200, 'Unexpected json output: %s' % s[:100])
     s = fh.read()
     if not s:
         return None
diff --git a/git_cl.py b/git_cl.py
index c04defad8..ead1cd1f9 100755
--- a/git_cl.py
+++ b/git_cl.py
@@ -6862,6 +6862,8 @@ def main(argv):
     dispatcher = subcommand.CommandDispatcher(__name__)
     try:
         return dispatcher.execute(OptionParser(), argv)
+    except gerrit_util.GerritError as e:
+        DieWithError(str(e))
     except auth.LoginRequiredError as e:
         DieWithError(str(e))
     except urllib.error.HTTPError as e: