diff --git a/server/utils/fetchNpmPackage.js b/server/utils/fetchNpmPackage.js
index d485d20..561a00c 100644
--- a/server/utils/fetchNpmPackage.js
+++ b/server/utils/fetchNpmPackage.js
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ function fetchNpmPackage(packageConfig) {
         if (res.statusCode === 200) {
           resolve(res.pipe(gunzip()).pipe(tar.extract()));
         } else {
-          reject(res);
+          const spec = `${packageConfig.name}@${packageConfig.version}`;
+          reject(new Error(`Failed to fetch tarball for ${spec}`));
         }
       })
       .on("error", reject);
diff --git a/server/utils/fetchNpmPackageInfo.js b/server/utils/fetchNpmPackageInfo.js
index e2ff3ec..e7ce963 100644
--- a/server/utils/fetchNpmPackageInfo.js
+++ b/server/utils/fetchNpmPackageInfo.js
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ function fetchNpmPackageInfo(packageName) {
         if (res.statusCode === 200) {
           resolve(parseJSON(res));
         } else {
-          reject(res);
+          reject(new Error(`Failed to fetch info for ${packageName}`));
         }
       })
       .on("error", reject);