diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index d0e7a4ad1..0db21ffa7 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
     "cac": "^6.7.14",
     "esbuild": "^0.16.10",
     "eslint": "^8.30.0",
+    "tinyspy": "^1.0.2",
     "tsx": "^3.12.1",
     "typescript": "^4.9.4"
   }
diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index 52fa2affa..03e75a72a 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import install from './install'
 import link from './link'
 import uninstall from './uninstall'
 import update from './update'
+import { wrapCommandAndRemoveStack } from './utils'
 
 const cli = cac('jspm')
 
@@ -25,32 +26,32 @@ cli
 cli
   .command('install [...packages]', 'install packages')
   .option('-o, --output <outputFile>', '.json or .importmap file for the output import-map')
-  .action(install)
+  .action(wrapCommandAndRemoveStack(install))
 
 cli
   .command('update [...packages]', 'update packages')
   .option('-o, --output <outputFile>', '.json or .importmap file for the output import-map')
-  .action(update)
+  .action(wrapCommandAndRemoveStack(update))
 
 cli
   .command('uninstall [...packages]', 'remove packages')
   .option('-o, --output <outputFile>', '.json or .importmap file for the output import-map')
-  .action(uninstall)
+  .action(wrapCommandAndRemoveStack(uninstall))
 
 cli
   .command('link [...modules]', 'trace install modules')
   .option('-o, --output <outputFile>', '.json or .importmap file for the output import-map')
-  .action(link)
+  .action(wrapCommandAndRemoveStack(link))
 
 cli
   .command('inject <htmlFile> [...packages]', 'inject the import map into the provided HTML source')
   .option('-o, --output <outputFile>', '.html file for the output html with the import-map')
-  .action(inject)
+  .action(wrapCommandAndRemoveStack(inject))
 
 cli
   .command('extract [...packages]', 'extract packages from the import map')
   .option('-o, --output <outputFile>', '.json or .importmap file for the output import-map')
-  .action(extract)
+  .action(wrapCommandAndRemoveStack(extract))
 
 cli
   .command('')
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index 047503871..41e1fa248 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,23 @@ export class JspmError extends Error {
   jspmError = true
 }
 
+export function wrapCommandAndRemoveStack(fn: Function) {
+  return async (...args: any[]) => {
+    try {
+      await fn(...args)
+    }
+    catch (e) {
+      stopLoading()
+      process.exitCode = 1
+      if (e instanceof JspmError || e?.jspmError) {
+        console.error(`ERR: ${e.message}`)
+        return
+      }
+      throw e
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 export async function writeMap(
   map: IImportMapFile,
   flags: Flags,
diff --git a/test/utils.test.ts b/test/utils.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..25102f6bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/utils.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import assert from 'assert'
+import { spyOn } from 'tinyspy'
+import install from '../src/install'
+import { wrapCommandAndRemoveStack } from '../src/utils'
+
+{
+  let errorStr = ''
+  spyOn(console, 'error', (err) => {
+    errorStr = err
+  })
+  /* basic install 404 with wrapCommandAndRemoveStack should not throw with stack mesage */
+  await wrapCommandAndRemoveStack(install)(['package-does-not-exist'], {
+    env: 'development',
+    stdout: true,
+    map: 'test/importmap.json',
+  })
+  assert.ok(process.exitCode === 1)
+  assert.ok(errorStr.includes('Unable to resolve npm:package-does-not-exist@ to a valid version imported from'))
+  process.exitCode = 0
+}