diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FreemarkerConfigurationLoader.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FreemarkerConfigurationLoader.java
index 39c328e8e..47198deb4 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FreemarkerConfigurationLoader.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FreemarkerConfigurationLoader.java
@@ -48,20 +48,19 @@ public class FreemarkerConfigurationLoader {
     }
 
     protected String getThemeDir(ApplicationBean appBean) {
-        String themeDir = null;
     	if (appBean == null) {
     		log.error("Cannot get themeDir from null application bean");
     		return null;
-    	} else {
-    	    themeDir = appBean.getThemeDir();
-    	    if (themeDir == null) {
-    	        log.error("themeDir is null");
-    	        return null;
-    	    }
-    	} 
+    	}
+    	
+    	String themeDir = appBean.getThemeDir();
+	    if (themeDir == null) {
+	        log.error("themeDir is null");
+	        return null;
+	    }
+
         return themeDir.replaceAll("/$", "");
     }
-
     
     protected FreemarkerConfiguration getConfigForTheme(String themeDir, VitroRequest vreq) {
         
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FreemarkerHttpServlet.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FreemarkerHttpServlet.java
index 4cf87cd1a..b4eec23e0 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FreemarkerHttpServlet.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FreemarkerHttpServlet.java
@@ -146,6 +146,18 @@ public class FreemarkerHttpServlet extends VitroHttpServlet {
             String stackTrace = sw.toString();
             adminErrorData.put("stackTrace", stackTrace);
             
+            sw = new StringWriter();
+            Throwable c = t.getCause();
+            String cause;
+            if (c != null) {
+                c.printStackTrace(new PrintWriter(sw));
+                cause = sw.toString();
+               
+            } else {
+                cause = "";
+            }
+            adminErrorData.put("cause", cause);
+            
             adminErrorData.put("datetime", new Date());
 
             templateMap.put("errorOnHomePage", this instanceof HomePageController);
@@ -174,6 +186,8 @@ public class FreemarkerHttpServlet extends VitroHttpServlet {
             doResponse(vreq, response, rv);
             
         } catch (TemplateProcessingException e) {
+            // We'll get here if the error was in one of the page templates; then attempting
+            // to display the error page also generates an error.
             throw new ServletException();
         }
     }
diff --git a/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/error/error-display.ftl b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/error/error-display.ftl
index 6bece3ccf..4ab973782 100644
--- a/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/error/error-display.ftl
+++ b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/error/error-display.ftl
@@ -14,12 +14,16 @@
         <p><strong>Error message:</strong> ${adminErrorData.errorMessage}</p>
     </#if>
     <#if adminErrorData.stackTrace?has_content>
-        <div>
-            <p><strong>Stack trace</strong> (full trace available in the vivo log):</p>
-            ${adminErrorData.stackTrace}
-        </div>
-    </#if>    
+        <p>
+            <strong>Stack trace</strong> (full trace available in the vivo log): ${adminErrorData.stackTrace}
+        </p>
+                   
+        <#if adminErrorData.cause?has_content>
+            <p><strong>Caused by:</strong> ${adminErrorData.cause}</p>            
+        </#if>
+    </#if>  
+
 <#elseif ! errorOnHomePage> <#-- view for other users -->
-    <p>Return to the <a href="${urls.home}">home page</a>.</p> 
+    <p>Return to the <a href="${urls.home}">home page</a></p> 
 </#if>
 
diff --git a/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/error/error-email.ftl b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/error/error-email.ftl
index f5265280c..f31b0c20d 100644
--- a/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/error/error-email.ftl
+++ b/webapp/web/templates/freemarker/body/error/error-email.ftl
@@ -17,18 +17,20 @@
         </p>
         
         <p>
-            <strong>Requested url:</strong> ${requestedUrl}.
+            <strong>Requested url:</strong> ${requestedUrl}
         </p>
         
         <p>
-            <strong>Error message:</strong> ${errorMessage}.
+            <strong>Error message:</strong> ${errorMessage}
         </p>
         
         <p>
-            <strong>Stack trace</strong> (full trace available in the vivo log):
+            <strong>Stack trace</strong> (full trace available in the vivo log): ${stackTrace}
         </p>
         
-        <div>${stackTrace}</div>
+        <#if cause?has_content>
+            <p><strong>Caused by:</strong> ${cause}</p>
+        </#if>
         
     </body>
 </html>
@@ -37,13 +39,15 @@
 <#assign text>
 An error occurred on your VIVO site at ${datetime}.
 
-Requested url: ${requestedUrl}.
+Requested url: ${requestedUrl}
 
-Error message: ${errorMessage}.
+Error message: ${errorMessage}
 
-Stack trace (full trace available in the vivo log):
+Stack trace (full trace available in the vivo log): ${stackTrace}
 
-${stackTrace}        
+<#if cause?has_content>
+Caused by: ${cause}
+</#if>       
 </#assign>
 
 <@email subject=subject html=html text=text />
\ No newline at end of file