diff --git a/src/compiler/commandLineParser.ts b/src/compiler/commandLineParser.ts
index a83e742a12..b477c97fec 100644
--- a/src/compiler/commandLineParser.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/commandLineParser.ts
@@ -284,12 +284,13 @@ module ts {
       * Read tsconfig.json file
       * @param fileName The path to the config file
       */
-    export function readConfigFile(fileName: string): any {
+    export function readConfigFile(fileName: string): { config?: any; error?: Diagnostic } {
         try {
             var text = sys.readFile(fileName);
-            return /\S/.test(text) ? JSON.parse(text) : {};
+            return { config: /\S/.test(text) ? JSON.parse(text) : {} };
         }
         catch (e) {
+            return { error: createCompilerDiagnostic(Diagnostics.Failed_to_parse_file_0_Colon_1, fileName, e.message) };
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/compiler/tsc.ts b/src/compiler/tsc.ts
index 89464e6b6e..15cc665e35 100644
--- a/src/compiler/tsc.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/tsc.ts
@@ -208,15 +208,15 @@ module ts {
 
             if (!cachedProgram) {
                 if (configFileName) {
-                    try {
-                        var configObject = readConfigFile(configFileName);
-                    }
-                    catch (e)
-                    {
-                        reportDiagnostic(createCompilerDiagnostic(Diagnostics.Failed_to_parse_file_0_Colon_1, configFileName, e.message));
+
+                    let result = readConfigFile(configFileName);
+                    if (result.error) {
+                        reportDiagnostic(result.error);
                         return sys.exit(ExitStatus.DiagnosticsPresent_OutputsSkipped);
                     }
-                    var configParseResult = parseConfigFile(configObject, sys, getDirectoryPath(configFileName));
+
+                    let configObject = result.config;
+                    let configParseResult = parseConfigFile(configObject, sys, getDirectoryPath(configFileName));
                     if (configParseResult.errors.length > 0) {
                         reportDiagnostics(configParseResult.errors);
                         return sys.exit(ExitStatus.DiagnosticsPresent_OutputsSkipped);
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ module ts {
                 compilerHost.getSourceFile = getSourceFile;
             }
 
-            var compileResult = compile(rootFileNames, compilerOptions, compilerHost);
+            let compileResult = compile(rootFileNames, compilerOptions, compilerHost);
 
             if (!compilerOptions.watch) {
                 return sys.exit(compileResult.exitStatus);
diff --git a/src/services/shims.ts b/src/services/shims.ts
index 6caec3cd23..ddcc32b864 100644
--- a/src/services/shims.ts
+++ b/src/services/shims.ts
@@ -804,20 +804,17 @@ module ts {
                 () => {
                     let text = sourceTextSnapshot.getText(0, sourceTextSnapshot.getLength());
 
-                    try {
-                        var json = /\S/.test(text) ? JSON.parse(text) : {};
-                    }
-                    catch (e) {
+                    let result = this.parseConfigFileText(fileName, text);
+
+                    if (result.error) {
                         return {
                             options: {},
                             files: [],
-                            errors: realizeDiagnostic(createCompilerDiagnostic(Diagnostics.Failed_to_parse_file_0_Colon_1, fileName, e.message), '\r\n')
-                        }
+                            errors: [realizeDiagnostic(result.error, '/r/n')]
+                        };
                     }
 
-                    if (json) {
-                        var configFile = parseConfigFile(json, this.host, getDirectoryPath(normalizeSlashes(fileName)));
-                    }
+                    var configFile = parseConfigFile(result.config, this.host, getDirectoryPath(normalizeSlashes(fileName)));
 
                     return {
                         options: configFile.options,
@@ -827,6 +824,15 @@ module ts {
                 });
         }
 
+        private parseConfigFileText(fileName: string, jsonText: string): { config?: any; error?: Diagnostic } {
+            try {
+                return { config: /\S/.test(jsonText) ? JSON.parse(jsonText) : {} };
+            }
+            catch (e) {
+                return { error: createCompilerDiagnostic(Diagnostics.Failed_to_parse_file_0_Colon_1, fileName, e.message) };
+            }
+        }
+
         public getDefaultCompilationSettings(): string {
             return this.forwardJSONCall(
                 "getDefaultCompilationSettings()",