diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands.rb b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands.rb
index 54fa204048e..bb69fd6c4c0 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands.rb
@@ -95,8 +95,8 @@ module Shell
         # Get the special java exception which will be handled
         cause = e.cause
         if cause.kind_of?(org.apache.hadoop.hbase.TableNotFoundException) then
-          str = java.lang.String.new("#{cause}")
-          raise "Unknown table #{str}!"
+          first_arg = args.first
+          raise "Unknown table #{first_arg}!"
         end
         if cause.kind_of?(org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.RetriesExhaustedWithDetailsException) then
           exceptions = cause.getCauses
@@ -105,6 +105,10 @@ module Shell
               valid_cols = table(args.first).get_all_columns.map { |c| c + '*' }
               raise "Unknown column family! Valid column names: #{valid_cols.join(", ")}"
             end
+            if exception.kind_of?(org.apache.hadoop.hbase.TableNotFoundException) then
+              first_arg = args.first
+              raise "Unknown table #{first_arg}!"
+            end
           end
         end
         if cause.kind_of?(org.apache.hadoop.hbase.TableExistsException) then