diff --git a/aleth/main.cpp b/aleth/main.cpp
index 99094c8a82e..9d03ef1e4a2 100644
--- a/aleth/main.cpp
+++ b/aleth/main.cpp
@@ -687,9 +687,10 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
         }
         catch (...)
         {
-            cerr << "provided configuration is not well formatted\n";
-            cerr << "sample: \n" << genesisInfo(eth::Network::MainNetworkTest) << "\n";
-            return AlethErrors::Success;
+            cerr << "provided configuration is not well-formatted\n";
+            cerr << "well-formatted sample: \n"
+                 << genesisInfo(eth::Network::MainNetworkTest) << "\n";
+            return AlethErrors::ConfigFileInvalid;
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/libdevcore/Exceptions.h b/libdevcore/Exceptions.h
index 8555287fe8d..bf73bc545e3 100644
--- a/libdevcore/Exceptions.h
+++ b/libdevcore/Exceptions.h
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ DEV_SIMPLE_EXCEPTION(FailedInvariant);
 DEV_SIMPLE_EXCEPTION(ValueTooLarge);
 DEV_SIMPLE_EXCEPTION(UnknownField);
 DEV_SIMPLE_EXCEPTION(MissingField);
+DEV_SIMPLE_EXCEPTION(SyntaxError);
 DEV_SIMPLE_EXCEPTION(WrongFieldType);
 DEV_SIMPLE_EXCEPTION(InterfaceNotSupported);
 DEV_SIMPLE_EXCEPTION(ExternalFunctionFailure);
diff --git a/libethcore/Common.h b/libethcore/Common.h
index 1f959134ca9..2b14b4c62af 100644
--- a/libethcore/Common.h
+++ b/libethcore/Common.h
@@ -226,6 +226,7 @@ enum AlethErrors
     UnknownArgument,
     UnknownMiningOption,
     ConfigFileEmptyOrNotFound,
+    ConfigFileInvalid,
     UnknownNetworkType,
     BadNetworkIdOption,
     BadConfigOption,
diff --git a/libethereum/ChainParams.cpp b/libethereum/ChainParams.cpp
index 1b20ded188e..cb65b416ffb 100644
--- a/libethereum/ChainParams.cpp
+++ b/libethereum/ChainParams.cpp
@@ -59,7 +59,20 @@ ChainParams ChainParams::loadConfig(
 {
     ChainParams cp(*this);
     js::mValue val;
-    js::read_string_or_throw(_json, val);
+
+    try
+    {
+        js::read_string_or_throw(_json, val);
+    }
+    catch (js::Error_position const& error)
+    {
+        std::string const comment = "json parsing error detected on line " +
+                                    std::to_string(error.line_) + " in column " +
+                                    std::to_string(error.column_) + ": " + error.reason_;
+        std::cerr << comment << "\n";
+        BOOST_THROW_EXCEPTION(SyntaxError() << errinfo_comment(comment));
+    }
+
     js::mObject obj = val.get_obj();
 
     validateConfigJson(obj);