diff --git a/src/Composer/Console/Application.php b/src/Composer/Console/Application.php
index 7dfaa4940..e636a12f2 100755
--- a/src/Composer/Console/Application.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Console/Application.php
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ use Composer\Composer;
 use Composer\Factory;
 use Composer\IO\IOInterface;
 use Composer\IO\ConsoleIO;
+use Composer\Json\JsonValidationException;
 use Composer\Util\ErrorHandler;
 
 /**
@@ -144,7 +145,12 @@ class Application extends BaseApplication
                     $this->io->write($e->getMessage());
                     exit(1);
                 }
+            } catch (JsonValidationException $e) {
+                $errors = ' - ' . implode(PHP_EOL . ' - ', $e->getErrors());
+                $message = $e->getMessage() . ':' . PHP_EOL . $errors;
+                throw new JsonValidationException($message);
             }
+
         }
 
         return $this->composer;