diff --git a/novaclient/client.py b/novaclient/client.py
index 874c3484a..c49f079b2 100644
--- a/novaclient/client.py
+++ b/novaclient/client.py
@@ -141,7 +141,10 @@ class HTTPClient(httplib2.Http):
                 headers['X-Auth-Project-Id'] = self.projectid
 
             resp, body = self.request(self.auth_url, 'GET', headers=headers)
-            self.management_url = resp['x-server-management-url']
+            try:
+                self.management_url = resp['x-server-management-url']
+            except KeyError:
+                raise exceptions.AuthorizationFailure()
 
             self.auth_token = resp['x-auth-token']
         else:
diff --git a/novaclient/exceptions.py b/novaclient/exceptions.py
index ae456decd..cfbb0d4d5 100644
--- a/novaclient/exceptions.py
+++ b/novaclient/exceptions.py
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ class CommandError(Exception):
     pass
 
 
+class AuthorizationFailure(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
 class ClientException(Exception):
     """
     The base exception class for all exceptions this library raises.
@@ -29,6 +33,7 @@ class BadRequest(ClientException):
     message = "Bad request"
 
 
+
 class Unauthorized(ClientException):
     """
     HTTP 401 - Unauthorized: bad credentials.
diff --git a/novaclient/shell.py b/novaclient/shell.py
index c2f94164e..869b8c842 100644
--- a/novaclient/shell.py
+++ b/novaclient/shell.py
@@ -166,6 +166,8 @@ class OpenStackComputeShell(object):
             self.cs.authenticate()
         except exc.Unauthorized:
             raise exc.CommandError("Invalid OpenStack Nova credentials.")
+        except exc.AuthorizationFailure:
+            raise exc.CommandError("Unable to authorize user")
 
         args.func(self.cs, args)