diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands.rb b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands.rb
index 2abccddf045..4ad04cdbd4e 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands.rb
@@ -98,10 +98,11 @@ module Shell
       def translate_hbase_exceptions(*args)
         yield
       rescue => e
+        # Since exceptions will be thrown from the java code, 'e' will always be NativeException.
+        # Check for the original java exception and use it if present.
         raise e unless e.respond_to?(:cause) && e.cause != nil
-
-        # Get the special java exception which will be handled
         cause = e.cause
+
          # let individual command handle exceptions first
         if self.respond_to?(:handle_exceptions)
           self.handle_exceptions(cause, *args)
@@ -110,6 +111,15 @@ module Shell
         if cause.kind_of?(org.apache.hadoop.hbase.TableNotFoundException) then
           raise "Unknown table #{args.first}!"
         end
+        if cause.kind_of?(org.apache.hadoop.hbase.UnknownRegionException) then
+          raise "Unknown region #{args.first}!"
+        end
+        if cause.kind_of?(org.apache.hadoop.hbase.NamespaceNotFoundException) then
+          raise "Unknown namespace #{args.first}!"
+        end
+        if cause.kind_of?(org.apache.hadoop.hbase.snapshot.SnapshotDoesNotExistException) then
+          raise "Unknown snapshot #{args.first}!"
+        end
         if cause.kind_of?(org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.RetriesExhaustedWithDetailsException) then
           exceptions = cause.getCauses
           exceptions.each do |exception|