diff --git a/include/maxscale/modulecmd.h b/include/maxscale/modulecmd.h
index cb9a918d9..bcbb3d5ff 100644
--- a/include/maxscale/modulecmd.h
+++ b/include/maxscale/modulecmd.h
@@ -265,6 +265,12 @@ void modulecmd_set_error(const char *format, ...);
  */
 const char* modulecmd_get_error();
 
+/**
+ * @brief Get JSON formatted error
+ *
+ * @return The error or NULL if no errors have occurred
+ */
+json_t* modulecmd_get_json_error();
 
 /**
  * @brief Call a function for each command
diff --git a/server/core/modulecmd.cc b/server/core/modulecmd.cc
index 16791f965..57c5463a9 100644
--- a/server/core/modulecmd.cc
+++ b/server/core/modulecmd.cc
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 
 #include <maxscale/modulecmd.h>
 
+#include <string>
+
 #include <maxscale/alloc.h>
 #include <maxscale/config.h>
 #include <maxscale/pcre2.h>
@@ -575,12 +577,39 @@ void modulecmd_set_error(const char *format, ...)
     va_end(list);
 }
 
+static void modulecmd_clear_error()
+{
+    prepare_error();
+    errbuf[0] = '\0';
+}
+
 const char* modulecmd_get_error()
 {
     prepare_error();
     return errbuf;
 }
 
+json_t* modulecmd_get_json_error()
+{
+    json_t* obj = NULL;
+    std::string errmsg = modulecmd_get_error();
+    modulecmd_clear_error();
+
+    if (errmsg.length())
+    {
+        json_t* err = json_object();
+        json_object_set_new(err, "detail", json_string(errmsg.c_str()));
+
+        json_t* arr = json_array();
+        json_array_append_new(arr, err);
+
+        obj = json_object();
+        json_object_set_new(obj, "errors", arr);
+    }
+
+    return obj;
+}
+
 bool modulecmd_foreach(const char *domain_re, const char *ident_re,
                        bool(*fn)(const MODULECMD *cmd, void *data), void *data)
 {
diff --git a/server/core/resource.cc b/server/core/resource.cc
index 7fbe93b37..db37a2e42 100644
--- a/server/core/resource.cc
+++ b/server/core/resource.cc
@@ -593,7 +593,7 @@ HttpResponse cb_modulecmd(const HttpRequest& request)
                 MXS_FREE(opts[i]);
             }
 
-            int rc = MHD_HTTP_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR;
+            int rc;
 
             if (rval)
             {
@@ -613,6 +613,11 @@ HttpResponse cb_modulecmd(const HttpRequest& request)
                     rc = MHD_HTTP_NO_CONTENT;
                 }
             }
+            else
+            {
+                rc = MHD_HTTP_FORBIDDEN;
+                output = modulecmd_get_json_error();
+            }
 
             return HttpResponse(rc, output);
         }