diff --git a/glanceclient/exc.py b/glanceclient/exc.py
index 3eeaffa1..95eb575f 100644
--- a/glanceclient/exc.py
+++ b/glanceclient/exc.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 #    under the License.
 
+import re
 import sys
 
 
@@ -141,7 +142,7 @@ class HTTPServiceUnavailable(ServiceUnavailable):
     pass
 
 
-#NOTE(bcwaldon): Build a mapping of HTTP codes to corresponding exception
+# NOTE(bcwaldon): Build a mapping of HTTP codes to corresponding exception
 # classes
 _code_map = {}
 for obj_name in dir(sys.modules[__name__]):
@@ -153,7 +154,29 @@ for obj_name in dir(sys.modules[__name__]):
 def from_response(response, body=None):
     """Return an instance of an HTTPException based on httplib response."""
     cls = _code_map.get(response.status_code, HTTPException)
-    if body:
+    if body and 'json' in response.headers['content-type']:
+        # Iterate over the nested objects and retreive the "message" attribute.
+        messages = [obj.get('message') for obj in response.json().values()]
+        # Join all of the messages together nicely and filter out any objects
+        # that don't have a "message" attr.
+        details = '\n'.join(i for i in messages if i is not None)
+        return cls(details=details)
+    elif body and 'html' in response.headers['content-type']:
+        # Split the lines, strip whitespace and inline HTML from the response.
+        details = [re.sub(r'<.+?>', '', i.strip())
+                   for i in response.text.splitlines()]
+        details = [i for i in details if i]
+        # Remove duplicates from the list.
+        details_seen = set()
+        details_temp = []
+        for i in details:
+            if i not in details_seen:
+                details_temp.append(i)
+                details_seen.add(i)
+        # Return joined string separated by colons.
+        details = ': '.join(details_temp)
+        return cls(details=details)
+    elif body:
         details = body.replace('\n\n', '\n')
         return cls(details=details)
 
diff --git a/glanceclient/shell.py b/glanceclient/shell.py
index 4eb174eb..4b5b73d2 100644
--- a/glanceclient/shell.py
+++ b/glanceclient/shell.py
@@ -477,14 +477,16 @@ class OpenStackImagesShell(object):
                           "or prompted response"))
 
             # Validate password flow auth
-            project_info = (args.os_tenant_name or
-                            args.os_tenant_id or
-                            (args.os_project_name and
-                            (args.os_project_domain_name or
-                                args.os_project_domain_id)) or
-                            args.os_project_id)
+            project_info = (
+                args.os_tenant_name or args.os_tenant_id or (
+                    args.os_project_name and (
+                        args.os_project_domain_name or
+                        args.os_project_domain_id
+                    )
+                ) or args.os_project_id
+            )
 
-            if (not project_info):
+            if not project_info:
                 # tenant is deprecated in Keystone v3. Use the latest
                 # terminology instead.
                 raise exc.CommandError(
@@ -571,14 +573,14 @@ class OpenStackImagesShell(object):
                     with open(schema_file_path, 'w') as f:
                         f.write(json.dumps(schema.raw()))
                 except Exception:
-                    #NOTE(esheffield) do nothing here, we'll get a message
-                    #later if the schema is missing
+                    # NOTE(esheffield) do nothing here, we'll get a message
+                    # later if the schema is missing
                     pass
 
     def main(self, argv):
         # Parse args once to find version
 
-        #NOTE(flepied) Under Python3, parsed arguments are removed
+        # NOTE(flepied) Under Python3, parsed arguments are removed
         # from the list so make a copy for the first parsing
         base_argv = copy.deepcopy(argv)
         parser = self.get_base_parser()
@@ -642,8 +644,8 @@ class OpenStackImagesShell(object):
         except exc.Unauthorized:
             raise exc.CommandError("Invalid OpenStack Identity credentials.")
         except Exception:
-            #NOTE(kragniz) Print any exceptions raised to stderr if the --debug
-            # flag is set
+            # NOTE(kragniz) Print any exceptions raised to stderr if the
+            # --debug flag is set
             if args.debug:
                 traceback.print_exc()
             raise
diff --git a/tests/test_exc.py b/tests/test_exc.py
index c8ad2dfc..575c62b5 100644
--- a/tests/test_exc.py
+++ b/tests/test_exc.py
@@ -17,6 +17,17 @@ import testtools
 
 from glanceclient import exc
 
+HTML_MSG = """<html>
+ <head>
+   <title>404 Entity Not Found</title>
+ </head>
+ <body>
+  <h1>404 Entity Not Found</h1>
+  Entity could not be found
+  <br /><br />
+ </body>
+</html>"""
+
 
 class TestHTTPExceptions(testtools.TestCase):
     def test_from_response(self):
@@ -25,3 +36,35 @@ class TestHTTPExceptions(testtools.TestCase):
         mock_resp.status_code = 400
         out = exc.from_response(mock_resp)
         self.assertIsInstance(out, exc.HTTPBadRequest)
+
+    def test_handles_json(self):
+        """exc.from_response should not print JSON."""
+        mock_resp = mock.Mock()
+        mock_resp.status_code = 413
+        mock_resp.json.return_value = {
+            "overLimit": {
+                "code": 413,
+                "message": "OverLimit Retry...",
+                "details": "Error Details...",
+                "retryAt": "2014-12-03T13:33:06Z"
+            }
+        }
+        mock_resp.headers = {
+            "content-type": "application/json"
+        }
+        err = exc.from_response(mock_resp, "Non-empty body")
+        self.assertIsInstance(err, exc.HTTPOverLimit)
+        self.assertEqual("OverLimit Retry...", err.details)
+
+    def test_handles_html(self):
+        """exc.from_response should not print HTML."""
+        mock_resp = mock.Mock()
+        mock_resp.status_code = 404
+        mock_resp.text = HTML_MSG
+        mock_resp.headers = {
+            "content-type": "text/html"
+        }
+        err = exc.from_response(mock_resp, HTML_MSG)
+        self.assertIsInstance(err, exc.HTTPNotFound)
+        self.assertEqual("404 Entity Not Found: Entity could not be found",
+                         err.details)