diff --git a/sjsonnet/src/sjsonnet/Format.scala b/sjsonnet/src/sjsonnet/Format.scala
index 2f88e1a5..6bb7beca 100644
--- a/sjsonnet/src/sjsonnet/Format.scala
+++ b/sjsonnet/src/sjsonnet/Format.scala
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package sjsonnet
 
+import scala.util.control.NonFatal
+
 /**
  * Minimal re-implementation of Python's `%` formatting logic, since Jsonnet's `%` formatter is
  * basically "do whatever python does", with a link to:
@@ -273,7 +275,7 @@ object Format {
   }
 
   def format(s: String, values0: Val, pos: Position)(implicit evaluator: EvalScope): Val.Str = {
-    val parsed = parseFormatCached(s, evaluator.formatCache)
+    val parsed = parseFormatOrFail(pos)(parseFormatCached(s, evaluator.formatCache))
     format(parsed, values0, pos)
   }
 
@@ -558,9 +560,19 @@ object Format {
 
   def format(leading: String, chunks: scala.Seq[(FormatSpec, String)], values0: Val, pos: Position)(
       implicit evaluator: EvalScope): Val.Str = {
-    format(lowerParsedFormat((leading, chunks)), values0, pos)
+    val parsed = parseFormatOrFail(pos)(lowerParsedFormat((leading, chunks)))
+    format(parsed, values0, pos)
   }
 
+  private def parseFormatOrFail(pos: Position)(parse: => RuntimeFormat)(implicit
+      evaluator: EvalErrorScope): RuntimeFormat =
+    try parse
+    catch {
+      case e: Error    => throw e
+      case NonFatal(e) =>
+        Error.fail(e.getMessage, pos)
+    }
+
   private def appendLeading(output: java.lang.StringBuilder, parsed: RuntimeFormat): Unit = {
     val source = parsed.source
     if (source != null) output.append(source, parsed.leadingStart, parsed.leadingEnd)
diff --git a/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_invalid_conversion.jsonnet b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_invalid_conversion.jsonnet
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ca3eeda2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_invalid_conversion.jsonnet
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+std.format("%z", [1])
diff --git a/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_invalid_conversion.jsonnet.golden b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_invalid_conversion.jsonnet.golden
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..41651169
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_invalid_conversion.jsonnet.golden
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+sjsonnet.Error: [std.format] Unrecognized conversion type: z
+    at [<root>].(error.format_invalid_conversion.jsonnet:1:11)
diff --git a/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_operator_invalid_conversion.jsonnet b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_operator_invalid_conversion.jsonnet
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..35947041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_operator_invalid_conversion.jsonnet
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+"%z" % [1]
diff --git a/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_operator_invalid_conversion.jsonnet.golden b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_operator_invalid_conversion.jsonnet.golden
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b5c12b48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_operator_invalid_conversion.jsonnet.golden
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+sjsonnet.Error: Unrecognized conversion type: z
diff --git a/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_truncated.jsonnet b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_truncated.jsonnet
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9564c8a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_truncated.jsonnet
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+std.format("hello %", [])
diff --git a/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_truncated.jsonnet.golden b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_truncated.jsonnet.golden
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e9f434e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_truncated.jsonnet.golden
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+sjsonnet.Error: [std.format] Truncated format code at end of string
+    at [<root>].(error.format_truncated.jsonnet:1:11)
diff --git a/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_unterminated_label.jsonnet b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_unterminated_label.jsonnet
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1e95db24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_unterminated_label.jsonnet
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+std.format("%(key", { key: "value" })
diff --git a/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_unterminated_label.jsonnet.golden b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_unterminated_label.jsonnet.golden
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7e86c2c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/error.format_unterminated_label.jsonnet.golden
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+sjsonnet.Error: [std.format] Unterminated ( in format spec
diff --git a/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/format_error_messages.jsonnet b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/format_error_messages.jsonnet
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..943f0077
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/format_error_messages.jsonnet
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+std.assertEqual(std.format("100%% done %s", ["yes"]), "100% done yes") &&
+std.assertEqual(std.format("%*s", [10, "hello"]), "     hello") &&
+std.assertEqual(std.format("%.*f", [3, 3.14159]), "3.142") &&
+std.assertEqual(std.format("%#x", [255]), "0xff") &&
+true
diff --git a/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/format_error_messages.jsonnet.golden b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/format_error_messages.jsonnet.golden
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..27ba77dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sjsonnet/test/resources/new_test_suite/format_error_messages.jsonnet.golden
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+true