diff --git a/bndtools.core/src/org/bndtools/core/ui/wizards/shared/TemplateSelectionWizardPage.java b/bndtools.core/src/org/bndtools/core/ui/wizards/shared/TemplateSelectionWizardPage.java
index 02a58bde57..d1fcc5d1d1 100644
--- a/bndtools.core/src/org/bndtools/core/ui/wizards/shared/TemplateSelectionWizardPage.java
+++ b/bndtools.core/src/org/bndtools/core/ui/wizards/shared/TemplateSelectionWizardPage.java
@@ -62,8 +62,8 @@
 import org.osgi.service.component.ComponentConstants;
 import org.osgi.util.promise.Promise;
 
-import aQute.bnd.osgi.Processor;
 import aQute.bnd.exceptions.Exceptions;
+import aQute.bnd.osgi.Processor;
 import aQute.lib.io.IO;
 import aQute.libg.tuple.Pair;
 import bndtools.Plugin;
@@ -294,11 +294,20 @@ public void run(IProgressMonitor progress) throws InvocationTargetException {
 					try {
 						Throwable failure = namedPromise.getSecond()
 							.getFailure();
-						if (failure != null)
+						if (failure != null) {
+
+							shell.getDisplay()
+								.asyncExec(() -> {
+									txtDescription.setText("Failed to load from template loader (" + name
+										+ ") See Error Log for stack trace: "
+										+ failure.getMessage());
+								});
+
 							Plugin.getDefault()
 								.getLog()
 								.log(new Status(IStatus.ERROR, Plugin.PLUGIN_ID, 0,
 									"Failed to load from template loader: " + name, failure));
+						}
 						else {
 							Collection<Template> loadedTemplates = namedPromise.getSecond()
 								.getValue();
diff --git a/org.bndtools.templating.gitrepo/src/org/bndtools/templating/jgit/Cache.java b/org.bndtools.templating.gitrepo/src/org/bndtools/templating/jgit/Cache.java
index 1b01750e20..2da9d063f7 100644
--- a/org.bndtools.templating.gitrepo/src/org/bndtools/templating/jgit/Cache.java
+++ b/org.bndtools.templating.gitrepo/src/org/bndtools/templating/jgit/Cache.java
@@ -28,6 +28,11 @@ public byte[] download(URI uri) throws Exception {
 				TaggedData td = client.connectTagged(uri.toURL());
 				if (td == null || td.isNotFound())
 					throw new FileNotFoundException("Not found");
+
+				if (td.getInputStream() == null) {
+					throwNoResponseError(td);
+				}
+
 				data = IO.read(td.getInputStream());
 				if (td.getTag() != null)
 					cache.put(uri, new Pair<>(td.getTag(), data));
@@ -41,6 +46,11 @@ public byte[] download(URI uri) throws Exception {
 					data = cachedTag.getSecond();
 				} else {
 					// changed
+
+					if (td.getInputStream() == null) {
+						throwNoResponseError(td);
+					}
+
 					data = IO.read(td.getInputStream());
 					if (td.getTag() == null) {
 						// server now not giving an etag -> remove from cache
@@ -59,4 +69,9 @@ public byte[] download(URI uri) throws Exception {
 		}
 	}
 
+	private void throwNoResponseError(TaggedData td) throws IOException {
+		throw new IOException("Error (HTTP " + td.getResponseCode() + ") - no response: " + td
+			+ " (Check https://bnd.bndtools.org/instructions/connection-settings.html in case of connection or authentication errors.)");
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/org.bndtools.templating.gitrepo/src/org/bndtools/templating/jgit/GitHub.java b/org.bndtools.templating.gitrepo/src/org/bndtools/templating/jgit/GitHub.java
index 873356fcf1..2904c6cd5d 100644
--- a/org.bndtools.templating.gitrepo/src/org/bndtools/templating/jgit/GitHub.java
+++ b/org.bndtools.templating.gitrepo/src/org/bndtools/templating/jgit/GitHub.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package org.bndtools.templating.jgit;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
@@ -33,6 +34,9 @@ public Promise<GithubRepoDetailsDTO> loadRepoDetails(String repository) {
 			return new JSONCodec().dec()
 				.from(detailsDtoData)
 				.get(GithubRepoDetailsDTO.class);
+		})
+			.onFailure(t -> {
+				throw new IOException("Error fetching Github repo details: " + URL_PREFIX + repository, t);
 		});
 	}
 }