1 files changed, 10 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/src/lib/Bcfg2/Server/Plugins/Cfg/CfgExternalCommandVerifier.py b/src/lib/Bcfg2/Server/Plugins/Cfg/CfgExternalCommandVerifier.py
index b702ac899..8e2d98db9 100644
--- a/src/lib/Bcfg2/Server/Plugins/Cfg/CfgExternalCommandVerifier.py
+++ b/src/lib/Bcfg2/Server/Plugins/Cfg/CfgExternalCommandVerifier.py
@@ -23,10 +23,18 @@ class CfgExternalCommandVerifier(CfgVerifier):
     def verify_entry(self, entry, metadata, data):
         try:
             proc = Popen(self.cmd, stdin=PIPE, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE)
-            err = proc.communicate(input=data)[1]
+            out, err = proc.communicate(input=data)
             rv = proc.wait()
             if rv != 0:
-                raise CfgVerificationError(err)
+                if not err:
+                    if out:
+                        # got nothing on stderr, try stdout
+                        err = out
+                    else:
+                        err = "Non-zero return value %s" % rv
+                raise CfgVerificationError(err.strip())
+        except CfgVerificationError:
+            raise
         except:
             err = sys.exc_info()[1]
             raise CfgVerificationError("Error running external command "