diff --git a/builtin/archive.c b/builtin/archive.c
index 883c0092ad..931956def9 100644
--- a/builtin/archive.c
+++ b/builtin/archive.c
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ static int run_remote_archiver(int argc, const char **argv,
 	if (strcmp(buf, "ACK")) {
 		if (len > 5 && !prefixcmp(buf, "NACK "))
 			die(_("git archive: NACK %s"), buf + 5);
+		if (len > 4 && !prefixcmp(buf, "ERR "))
+			die(_("remote error: %s"), buf + 4);
 		die(_("git archive: protocol error"));
 	}