diff --git a/lib/Slic3r/GUI/Plater.pm b/lib/Slic3r/GUI/Plater.pm
index 4ae024900a..0e011677c0 100644
--- a/lib/Slic3r/GUI/Plater.pm
+++ b/lib/Slic3r/GUI/Plater.pm
@@ -999,7 +999,7 @@ sub start_background_process {
             $self->{print}->process;
         };
         if ($@) {
-            Slic3r::debugf "Discarding background process error: $@\n";
+            Slic3r::debugf "Background process error: $@\n";
             Wx::PostEvent($self, Wx::PlThreadEvent->new(-1, $PROCESS_COMPLETED_EVENT, $@));
         } else {
             Wx::PostEvent($self, Wx::PlThreadEvent->new(-1, $PROCESS_COMPLETED_EVENT, undef));
@@ -1150,6 +1150,12 @@ sub on_process_completed {
     $self->{process_thread}->detach if $self->{process_thread};
     $self->{process_thread} = undef;
     
+    # if we're supposed to perform an explicit export let's display the error in a dialog
+    if ($error && $self->{export_gcode_output_file}) {
+        $self->{export_gcode_output_file} = undef;
+        Slic3r::GUI::show_error($self, $error);
+    }
+    
     return if $error;
     $self->{toolpaths2D}->reload_print if $self->{toolpaths2D};
     $self->{preview3D}->reload_print if $self->{preview3D};
diff --git a/lib/Slic3r/Print/Object.pm b/lib/Slic3r/Print/Object.pm
index 6012c8cd43..99e692de26 100644
--- a/lib/Slic3r/Print/Object.pm
+++ b/lib/Slic3r/Print/Object.pm
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ sub slice {
         $self->_simplify_slices(scale($self->print->config->resolution));
     }
     
-    die "No layers were detected. You might want to repair your STL file(s) or check their size and retry.\n"
+    die "No layers were detected. You might want to repair your STL file(s) or check their size or thickness and retry.\n"
         if !@{$self->layers};
     
     $self->set_typed_slices(0);