diff --git a/pepper-apis/dsm-core/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/dsm/route/admin/UserRoleRoute.java b/pepper-apis/dsm-core/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/dsm/route/admin/UserRoleRoute.java
index 8787560618..5d266b3ae3 100644
--- a/pepper-apis/dsm-core/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/dsm/route/admin/UserRoleRoute.java
+++ b/pepper-apis/dsm-core/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/dsm/route/admin/UserRoleRoute.java
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ protected static String handleError(Throwable e, String operation, Response resp
         if (e instanceof DSMBadRequestException) {
             response.status(400);
             log.info("DSMBadRequestException {}: {}", operation, e.toString());
-            return e.toString();
+            return e.getMessage();
         } else if (e instanceof DsmInternalError) {
             log.error("Error {}: {}", operation, e.toString());
             response.status(500);
@@ -112,6 +112,6 @@ protected static String handleError(Throwable e, String operation, Response resp
         // any other exception
         log.error("Error {}: {}", operation, e.toString());
         response.status(500);
-        return e.toString();
+        return e.getMessage();
     }
 }
diff --git a/pepper-apis/dsm-core/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/dsm/service/admin/UserAdminService.java b/pepper-apis/dsm-core/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/dsm/service/admin/UserAdminService.java
index 08dcc6a028..fcc25e7912 100644
--- a/pepper-apis/dsm-core/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/dsm/service/admin/UserAdminService.java
+++ b/pepper-apis/dsm-core/src/main/java/org/broadinstitute/dsm/service/admin/UserAdminService.java
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ protected Map<String, Integer> validateUsers(List<String> users, int groupId) {
     protected void validateRoles(List<String> roleNames, Set<String> validRoleNames) {
         String msg = String.format("Invalid roles for study group %s: ", studyGroup);
         if (CollectionUtils.isEmpty(roleNames)) {
-            throw new DSMBadRequestException(msg + "None provided");
+            throw new DSMBadRequestException(msg + "Users must have at least one role");
         }
         if (validRoleNames.containsAll(roleNames)) {
             return;
diff --git a/pepper-apis/dsm-core/src/test/java/org/broadinstitute/dsm/service/admin/UserAdminServiceTest.java b/pepper-apis/dsm-core/src/test/java/org/broadinstitute/dsm/service/admin/UserAdminServiceTest.java
index 1557f3d26f..bd3b2139bc 100644
--- a/pepper-apis/dsm-core/src/test/java/org/broadinstitute/dsm/service/admin/UserAdminServiceTest.java
+++ b/pepper-apis/dsm-core/src/test/java/org/broadinstitute/dsm/service/admin/UserAdminServiceTest.java
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ public void testValidateRoles() {
             Assert.fail("UserAdminService.validateRoles should fail with no roles");
         } catch (Exception e) {
             Assert.assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("Invalid roles for study group"));
-            Assert.assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("None provided"));
+            Assert.assertTrue(e.getMessage().contains("must have at least one role"));
         }
 
         try {