diff --git a/registry/client/auth/session.go b/registry/client/auth/session.go
index 8594b66f7..9819b3cb8 100644
--- a/registry/client/auth/session.go
+++ b/registry/client/auth/session.go
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ func (th *tokenHandler) fetchToken(params map[string]string) (token *tokenRespon
 
 	if !client.SuccessStatus(resp.StatusCode) {
 		err := client.HandleErrorResponse(resp)
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("token auth attempt for registry: %s request failed with status: %d %s: %q", req.URL, resp.StatusCode, http.StatusText(resp.StatusCode), err)
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	decoder := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body)
diff --git a/registry/client/errors_test.go b/registry/client/errors_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..80241a5a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/registry/client/errors_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+package client
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+type nopCloser struct {
+	io.Reader
+}
+
+func (nopCloser) Close() error { return nil }
+
+func TestHandleErrorResponse401ValidBody(t *testing.T) {
+	json := "{\"errors\":[{\"code\":\"UNAUTHORIZED\",\"message\":\"action requires authentication\"}]}"
+	response := &http.Response{
+		Status:     "401 Unauthorized",
+		StatusCode: 401,
+		Body:       nopCloser{bytes.NewBufferString(json)},
+	}
+	err := HandleErrorResponse(response)
+
+	expectedMsg := "unauthorized: action requires authentication"
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), expectedMsg) {
+		t.Errorf("Expected \"%s\", got: \"%s\"", expectedMsg, err.Error())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestHandleErrorResponse401WithInvalidBody(t *testing.T) {
+	json := "{invalid json}"
+	response := &http.Response{
+		Status:     "401 Unauthorized",
+		StatusCode: 401,
+		Body:       nopCloser{bytes.NewBufferString(json)},
+	}
+	err := HandleErrorResponse(response)
+
+	expectedMsg := "unauthorized: authentication required"
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), expectedMsg) {
+		t.Errorf("Expected \"%s\", got: \"%s\"", expectedMsg, err.Error())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestHandleErrorResponseExpectedStatusCode400ValidBody(t *testing.T) {
+	json := "{\"errors\":[{\"code\":\"DIGEST_INVALID\",\"message\":\"provided digest does not match\"}]}"
+	response := &http.Response{
+		Status:     "400 Bad Request",
+		StatusCode: 400,
+		Body:       nopCloser{bytes.NewBufferString(json)},
+	}
+	err := HandleErrorResponse(response)
+
+	expectedMsg := "digest invalid: provided digest does not match"
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), expectedMsg) {
+		t.Errorf("Expected \"%s\", got: \"%s\"", expectedMsg, err.Error())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestHandleErrorResponseExpectedStatusCode404InvalidBody(t *testing.T) {
+	json := "{invalid json}"
+	response := &http.Response{
+		Status:     "404 Not Found",
+		StatusCode: 404,
+		Body:       nopCloser{bytes.NewBufferString(json)},
+	}
+	err := HandleErrorResponse(response)
+
+	expectedMsg := "Error parsing HTTP response: invalid character 'i' looking for beginning of object key string: \"{invalid json}\""
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), expectedMsg) {
+		t.Errorf("Expected \"%s\", got: \"%s\"", expectedMsg, err.Error())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestHandleErrorResponseUnexpectedStatusCode501(t *testing.T) {
+	response := &http.Response{
+		Status:     "501 Not Implemented",
+		StatusCode: 501,
+		Body:       nopCloser{bytes.NewBufferString("{\"Error Encountered\" : \"Function not implemented.\"}")},
+	}
+	err := HandleErrorResponse(response)
+
+	expectedMsg := "Received unexpected HTTP status: 501 Not Implemented"
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), expectedMsg) {
+		t.Errorf("Expected \"%s\", got: \"%s\"", expectedMsg, err.Error())
+	}
+}