diff --git a/osbs/cli/main.py b/osbs/cli/main.py
index 0f923546d..1c3511922 100644
--- a/osbs/cli/main.py
+++ b/osbs/cli/main.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 from osbs.api import OSBS
 from osbs.conf import Configuration
 from osbs.constants import DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION_FILE, DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION_SECTION
-from osbs.exceptions import OsbsNetworkException, OsbsException, OsbsAuthException
+from osbs.exceptions import OsbsNetworkException, OsbsException, OsbsAuthException, OsbsResponseException
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger('osbs')
@@ -392,6 +392,16 @@ def main():
             logger.error("Authentication failure: %s",
                          ex.message)
             return -1
+    except OsbsResponseException as ex:
+        if is_verbose:
+            raise
+        else:
+            if isinstance(ex.json, dict) and 'message' in ex.json:
+                msg = ex.json['message']
+            else:
+                msg = ex.message
+            logger.error("Server returned error %s: %s", ex.status_code, msg)
+            return -1
     except Exception as ex:  # pylint: disable=broad-except
         if is_verbose:
             raise
diff --git a/osbs/exceptions.py b/osbs/exceptions.py
index 60eb63665..c90393720 100644
--- a/osbs/exceptions.py
+++ b/osbs/exceptions.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 """
 from __future__ import print_function, absolute_import, unicode_literals
 
+import json
 from traceback import format_tb
 
 
@@ -45,6 +46,14 @@ class OsbsResponseException(OsbsException):
     def __init__(self, message, status_code, *args, **kwargs):
         super(OsbsResponseException, self).__init__(message, *args, **kwargs)
         self.status_code = status_code
+        self.json = None
+
+        # try decoding openshift Status object
+        # https://docs.openshift.org/latest/rest_api/openshift_v1.html#v1-status
+        try:
+            self.json = json.loads(message)
+        except ValueError:
+            pass
 
 
 class OsbsNetworkException(OsbsException):