diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/clone_snapshot.rb b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/clone_snapshot.rb
index 6d9c5ded2e4..8f0b35b39e7 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/clone_snapshot.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/main/ruby/shell/commands/clone_snapshot.rb
@@ -47,6 +47,10 @@ EOF
           tableName = args[1]
           raise "Table already exists: #{tableName}!"
         end
+        if cause.is_a?(org.apache.hadoop.hbase.NamespaceNotFoundException)
+          namespace_name = args[1].split(':')[0]
+          raise "Unknown namespace: #{namespace_name}!"
+        end
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/shell/commands_test.rb b/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/shell/commands_test.rb
index 9fa291ae1e9..5daf9fa7cd5 100644
--- a/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/shell/commands_test.rb
+++ b/hbase-shell/src/test/ruby/shell/commands_test.rb
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ require 'hbase_constants'
 require 'hbase/table'
 require 'shell'
 
+##
+# Tests whether all registered commands have a help and command method
+
 class ShellCommandsTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   Shell.commands.each do |name, klass|
     define_test "#{name} command class #{klass} should respond to help" do
@@ -32,3 +35,48 @@ class ShellCommandsTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     end
   end
 end
+
+##
+# Tests commands from the point of view of the shell to validate
+# that the error messages returned to the user are correct
+
+class ShellCloneSnapshotTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+  include Hbase::TestHelpers
+
+  def setup
+    setup_hbase
+    @shell.interactive = false
+    # Create test table
+    @test_name = 'hbase_shell_tests_table'
+    drop_test_table(@test_name)
+    create_test_table(@test_name)
+    # Test snapshot name
+    @create_test_snapshot = 'hbase_shell_tests_snapshot'
+    drop_test_snapshot
+  end
+
+  def teardown
+    drop_test_table(@test_name)
+    drop_test_snapshot
+    shutdown
+  end
+
+  define_test 'Clone snapshot with table that already exists' do
+    existing_table = 'existing_table'
+    create_test_table(existing_table)
+    admin.snapshot(@test_name, @create_test_snapshot)
+    error = assert_raise(RuntimeError) do
+      @shell.command(:clone_snapshot, @create_test_snapshot, existing_table)
+    end
+    assert_match(/Table already exists: existing_table!/, error.message)
+  end
+
+  define_test 'Clone snapshot with unknown namespace' do
+    clone_table = 'does_not_exist:test_clone_snapshot_table'
+    admin.snapshot(@test_name, @create_test_snapshot)
+    error = assert_raise(RuntimeError) do
+      @shell.command(:clone_snapshot, @create_test_snapshot, clone_table)
+    end
+    assert_match(/Unknown namespace: does_not_exist!/, error.message)
+  end
+end