diff --git a/cmd/create-account/main.go b/cmd/create-account/main.go
index c8e239f29..15b043ed5 100644
--- a/cmd/create-account/main.go
+++ b/cmd/create-account/main.go
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ func sharedSecretRegister(sharedSecret, serverURL, localpart, password string, a
 	defer regResp.Body.Close() // nolint: errcheck
 	if regResp.StatusCode < 200 || regResp.StatusCode >= 300 {
 		body, _ = io.ReadAll(regResp.Body)
-		return "", fmt.Errorf(gjson.GetBytes(body, "error").Str)
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("got HTTP %d error from server: %s", regResp.StatusCode, string(body))
 	}
 	r, err := io.ReadAll(regResp.Body)
 	if err != nil {