diff --git a/src/commands/cmdhandler.py b/src/commands/cmdhandler.py
index 9ed4020b63..aaebe95312 100644
--- a/src/commands/cmdhandler.py
+++ b/src/commands/cmdhandler.py
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ from twisted.internet.defer import inlineCallbacks, returnValue
 from django.conf import settings
 from src.comms.channelhandler import CHANNELHANDLER
 from src.utils import logger, utils
+from src.commands.cmdset import CmdSet
 from src.commands.cmdparser import at_multimatch_cmd
 from src.utils.utils import string_suggestions
 
@@ -133,9 +134,11 @@ def get_and_merge_cmdsets(caller):
     except AttributeError:
         player_cmdset = None
 
-    cmdsets = [caller_cmdset] + [player_cmdset] + [channel_cmdset] + local_objects_cmdsets
+    cmdsets = yield [caller_cmdset] + [player_cmdset] + [channel_cmdset] + local_objects_cmdsets
     # weed out all non-found sets
     cmdsets = yield [cmdset for cmdset in cmdsets if cmdset]
+    # report cmdset errors to user (these should already have been logged)
+    yield [caller.msg(cmdset.message) for cmdset in cmdsets if cmdset.key == "_CMDSET_ERROR"]
     # sort cmdsets after reverse priority (highest prio are merged in last)
     cmdsets = yield sorted(cmdsets, key=lambda x: x.priority)
 
diff --git a/src/commands/cmdsethandler.py b/src/commands/cmdsethandler.py
index 9252ac00ef..6f58e3021f 100644
--- a/src/commands/cmdsethandler.py
+++ b/src/commands/cmdsethandler.py
@@ -71,6 +71,11 @@ __all__ = ("import_cmdset", "CmdSetHandler")
 
 _CACHED_CMDSETS = {}
 
+class _ErrorCmdSet(CmdSet):
+    "This is a special cmdset used to report errors"
+    key = "_CMDSET_ERROR"
+    message = "Error when loading cmdset."
+
 def import_cmdset(python_path, cmdsetobj, emit_to_obj=None, no_logging=False):
     """
     This helper function is used by the cmdsethandler to load a cmdset
@@ -113,19 +118,18 @@ def import_cmdset(python_path, cmdsetobj, emit_to_obj=None, no_logging=False):
             errstring = errstring % (classname, modulepath)
             raise
         except Exception:
-            errstring = "\n%s\nCompile/Run error when loading cmdset '%s'."
-            errstring = errstring % (traceback.format_exc(), python_path)
+            errstring = "Compile/Run error when loading cmdset '%s'. Error was logged."
+            errstring = errstring % (python_path)
             raise
-    except Exception, e:
-        if errstring and not no_logging:
-            print errstring
-            logger.log_trace()
+    except Exception:
+        # returning an empty error cmdset
+        if not no_logging:
+            logger.log_trace(errstring)
             if emit_to_obj and not ServerConfig.objects.conf("server_starting_mode"):
                 object.__getattribute__(emit_to_obj, "msg")(errstring)
-        if not errstring:
-            errstring = "Error in import cmdset: %s" % e
-        logger.log_errmsg(errstring)
-        #cannot raise - it kills the server if no base cmdset exists!
+        err_cmdset = _ErrorCmdSet()
+        err_cmdset.message = errstring
+        return err_cmdset
 
 # classes