diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.properties b/org.eclipse.jgit/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.properties
index a753188e8..55cf3ea71 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.properties
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.properties
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ couldNotRenameTemporaryIndexFileToIndex=Could not rename temporary index file to
 couldNotURLEncodeToUTF8=Could not URL encode to UTF-8
 couldNotWriteFile=Could not write file {0}
 countingObjects=Counting objects
+corruptPack=Pack file {0} is corrupt
 createBranchFailedUnknownReason=Create branch failed for unknown reason
 createBranchUnexpectedResult=Create branch returned unexpected result {0}
 createNewFileFailed=Could not create new file {0}
@@ -207,6 +208,7 @@ exceptionCaughtDuringExecutionOfRmCommand=Exception caught during execution of r
 exceptionCaughtDuringExecutionOfTagCommand=Exception caught during execution of tag command
 exceptionOccurredDuringAddingOfOptionToALogCommand=Exception occurred during adding of {0} as option to a Log command
 exceptionOccurredDuringReadingOfGIT_DIR=Exception occurred during reading of $GIT_DIR/{0}. {1}
+exceptionWhileReadingPack=ERROR: Exception caught while accessing pack file {0}, the pack file might be corrupt
 expectedACKNAKFoundEOF=Expected ACK/NAK, found EOF
 expectedACKNAKGot=Expected ACK/NAK, got: {0}
 expectedBooleanStringValue=Expected boolean string value
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.java
index 65272fb0b..fd38dc149 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.java
@@ -190,6 +190,7 @@ public class JGitText extends TranslationBundle {
 	/***/ public String corruptObjectNotree;
 	/***/ public String corruptObjectNoType;
 	/***/ public String corruptObjectPackfileChecksumIncorrect;
+	/***/ public String corruptPack;
 	/***/ public String couldNotCheckOutBecauseOfConflicts;
 	/***/ public String couldNotDeleteLockFileShouldNotHappen;
 	/***/ public String couldNotDeleteTemporaryIndexFileShouldNotHappen;
@@ -266,6 +267,7 @@ public class JGitText extends TranslationBundle {
 	/***/ public String exceptionCaughtDuringExecutionOfTagCommand;
 	/***/ public String exceptionOccurredDuringAddingOfOptionToALogCommand;
 	/***/ public String exceptionOccurredDuringReadingOfGIT_DIR;
+	/***/ public String exceptionWhileReadingPack;
 	/***/ public String expectedACKNAKFoundEOF;
 	/***/ public String expectedACKNAKGot;
 	/***/ public String expectedBooleanStringValue;
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/ObjectDirectory.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/ObjectDirectory.java
index 58276051e..76fadefe5 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/ObjectDirectory.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/file/ObjectDirectory.java
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.io.FileReader;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.PrintWriter;
+import java.io.StringWriter;
 import java.text.MessageFormat;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
@@ -64,6 +66,8 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 
+import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.CorruptObjectException;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.PackInvalidException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.errors.PackMismatchException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.JGitText;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.storage.pack.ObjectToPack;
@@ -328,9 +332,7 @@ public class ObjectDirectory extends FileObjectDatabase {
 				try {
 					p.resolve(matches, id, RESOLVE_ABBREV_LIMIT);
 				} catch (IOException e) {
-					// Assume the pack is corrupted.
-					//
-					removePack(p);
+					handlePackError(e, p);
 				}
 				if (matches.size() > RESOLVE_ABBREV_LIMIT)
 					return;
@@ -417,8 +419,7 @@ public class ObjectDirectory extends FileObjectDatabase {
 						if (searchPacksAgain(pList))
 							continue SEARCH;
 					} catch (IOException e) {
-						// Assume the pack is corrupted.
-						removePack(p);
+						handlePackError(e, p);
 					}
 				}
 				break SEARCH;
@@ -498,8 +499,7 @@ public class ObjectDirectory extends FileObjectDatabase {
 						if (searchPacksAgain(pList))
 							continue SEARCH;
 					} catch (IOException e) {
-						// Assume the pack is corrupted.
-						removePack(p);
+						handlePackError(e, p);
 					}
 				}
 				break SEARCH;
@@ -540,9 +540,7 @@ public class ObjectDirectory extends FileObjectDatabase {
 					pList = scanPacks(pList);
 					continue SEARCH;
 				} catch (IOException e) {
-					// Assume the pack is corrupted.
-					//
-					removePack(p);
+					handlePackError(e, p);
 				}
 			}
 			break SEARCH;
@@ -552,6 +550,28 @@ public class ObjectDirectory extends FileObjectDatabase {
 			h.db.selectObjectRepresentation(packer, otp, curs);
 	}
 
+	private void handlePackError(IOException e, PackFile p) {
+		String tmpl;
+		if ((e instanceof CorruptObjectException)
+				|| (e instanceof PackInvalidException)) {
+			tmpl = JGitText.get().corruptPack;
+			// Assume the pack is corrupted, and remove it from the list.
+			removePack(p);
+		} else {
+			tmpl = JGitText.get().exceptionWhileReadingPack;
+			// Don't remove the pack from the list, as the error may be
+			// transient.
+		}
+		StringBuilder buf = new StringBuilder(MessageFormat.format(tmpl,
+				p.getPackFile().getAbsolutePath()));
+		StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
+		e.printStackTrace(new PrintWriter(sw));
+		buf.append('\n');
+		buf.append(sw.toString());
+		// TODO instead of syserr we should use a logging framework
+		System.err.println(buf.toString());
+	}
+
 	@Override
 	InsertLooseObjectResult insertUnpackedObject(File tmp, ObjectId id,
 			boolean createDuplicate) throws IOException {