diff --git a/src/hound/cmds/houndd/main.go b/src/hound/cmds/houndd/main.go
index d23d93ed..25ba5ca2 100644
--- a/src/hound/cmds/houndd/main.go
+++ b/src/hound/cmds/houndd/main.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
+	"errors"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -197,6 +198,10 @@ func makeSearchers(
 
 	}
 
+	if err != nil {
+		err = errors.New("One or more repos failed to index")
+	}
+
 	return m, err
 }
 
diff --git a/src/hound/vcs/git.go b/src/hound/vcs/git.go
index deb4e811..2b8210f6 100644
--- a/src/hound/vcs/git.go
+++ b/src/hound/vcs/git.go
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"io"
 	"log"
-	"os"
-	"io/ioutil"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"