diff --git a/src/libcmd/repl.cc b/src/libcmd/repl.cc
index d7d8f9819..5b4d3f9d5 100644
--- a/src/libcmd/repl.cc
+++ b/src/libcmd/repl.cc
@@ -243,10 +243,21 @@ static std::ostream & showDebugTrace(std::ostream & out, const PosTable & positi
     return out;
 }
 
+static bool isFirstRepl = true;
+
 void NixRepl::mainLoop()
 {
-    std::string error = ANSI_RED "error:" ANSI_NORMAL " ";
-    notice("Welcome to Nix " + nixVersion + ". Type :? for help.\n");
+    if (isFirstRepl) {
+        std::string_view debuggerNotice = "";
+        if (state->debugRepl) {
+            debuggerNotice = " debugger";
+        }
+        notice("Nix %1%%2%\nType :? for help.", nixVersion, debuggerNotice);
+    }
+
+    if (isFirstRepl) {
+        isFirstRepl = false;
+    }
 
     loadFiles();
 
diff --git a/src/libexpr/eval.cc b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
index 91fd3ddf8..dc2579dfa 100644
--- a/src/libexpr/eval.cc
+++ b/src/libexpr/eval.cc
@@ -821,12 +821,10 @@ void EvalState::runDebugRepl(const Error * error, const Env & env, const Expr &
 
     if (error)
     {
-        printError("%s\n\n", error->what());
+        printError("%s\n", error->what());
 
         if (trylevel > 0 && error->info().level != lvlInfo)
             printError("This exception occurred in a 'tryEval' call. Use " ANSI_GREEN "--ignore-try" ANSI_NORMAL " to skip these.\n");
-
-        printError(ANSI_BOLD "Starting REPL to allow you to inspect the current state of the evaluator.\n" ANSI_NORMAL);
     }
 
     auto se = getStaticEnv(expr);