diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/server/NetworkChannel.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/server/NetworkChannel.scala
index cbf825797..b3bd4e644 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/server/NetworkChannel.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/server/NetworkChannel.scala
@@ -145,7 +145,10 @@ final class NetworkChannel(
                         case Some(_) =>
                           state = InHeader
                           process()
-                        case _ => log.error("Got invalid chunk from client: " + str)
+                        case _ =>
+                          val msg = s"got invalid chunk from client: $str"
+                          log.error(msg)
+                          logMessage("error", msg)
                       }
                   }
                 case _ => ()
@@ -226,15 +229,15 @@ final class NetworkChannel(
             onNotification(ntf)
           } catch {
             case LangServerError(code, message) =>
-              logMessage("error", s"Error $code while handling notification: $message")
+              logMessage("error", s"error $code while handling notification: $message")
           }
         case Right(msg) =>
-          log.debug(s"Unhandled message: $msg")
+          log.debug(s"unhandled message: $msg")
         case Left(errorDesc) =>
-          logMessage(
-            "error",
-            s"Got invalid chunk from client (${new String(chunk.toArray, "UTF-8")}): $errorDesc"
-          )
+          val msg =
+            s"got invalid chunk from client (${new String(chunk.toArray, "UTF-8")}): $errorDesc"
+          log.error(msg)
+          logMessage("error", msg)
       }
     }
 
diff --git a/protocol/src/main/scala/sbt/protocol/Serialization.scala b/protocol/src/main/scala/sbt/protocol/Serialization.scala
index 75ef805ca..86d87f6ca 100644
--- a/protocol/src/main/scala/sbt/protocol/Serialization.scala
+++ b/protocol/src/main/scala/sbt/protocol/Serialization.scala
@@ -175,22 +175,23 @@ object Serialization {
           if ((fields find { _.field == "id" }).isDefined)
             Converter.fromJson[JsonRpcRequestMessage](json) match {
               case Success(request) => Right(request)
-              case Failure(e)       => Left(s"Conversion error: ${e.getMessage}")
+              case Failure(e)       => Left(s"conversion error: ${e.getMessage}")
             }
           else
             Converter.fromJson[JsonRpcNotificationMessage](json) match {
               case Success(notification) => Right(notification)
-              case Failure(e)            => Left(s"Conversion error: ${e.getMessage}")
+              case Failure(e)            => Left(s"conversion error: ${e.getMessage}")
             }
-        } else
+        } else if ((fields find { _.field == "id" }).isDefined)
           Converter.fromJson[JsonRpcResponseMessage](json) match {
             case Success(res) => Right(res)
-            case Failure(e)   => Left(s"Conversion error: ${e.getMessage}")
+            case Failure(e)   => Left(s"conversion error: ${e.getMessage}")
           }
+        else Left(s"expected JSON-RPC object but found ${new String(bytes.toArray, "UTF-8")}")
       case Success(json) =>
-        Left(s"Expected JSON object but found $json")
+        Left(s"expected JSON object but found ${new String(bytes.toArray, "UTF-8")}")
       case Failure(e) =>
-        Left(s"Parse error: ${e.getMessage}")
+        Left(s"parse error: ${e.getMessage}")
     }
   }