diff --git a/src/libstore/remote-store.cc b/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
index a0e9f2241..650f17798 100644
--- a/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
@@ -87,8 +87,7 @@ void RemoteStore::openConnection(bool reserveSpace)
         processStderr();
     }
     catch (Error & e) {
-        throw Error(format("cannot start worker (%1%)")
-            % e.msg());
+        throw Error(format("cannot start daemon worker: %1%") % e.msg());
     }
 
     setOptions();
diff --git a/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc b/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc
index 8ec54e458..09064fd69 100644
--- a/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc
+++ b/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc
@@ -565,7 +565,7 @@ static void processConnection(bool trusted)
         to.flush();
 
     } catch (Error & e) {
-        stopWork(false, e.msg());
+        stopWork(false, e.msg(), GET_PROTOCOL_MINOR(clientVersion) >= 8 ? 1 : 0);
         to.flush();
         return;
     }