diff --git a/src/main/java/com/stripe/exception/StripeException.java b/src/main/java/com/stripe/exception/StripeException.java
index 09479171da9..ba7bf85ff83 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/stripe/exception/StripeException.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/stripe/exception/StripeException.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
 import com.stripe.model.StripeError;
+import com.stripe.net.ApiMode;
 import com.stripe.net.StripeResponseGetter;
 import lombok.Getter;
 
@@ -14,10 +15,19 @@ public abstract class StripeException extends Exception {
   // implement Serializable
   transient StripeError stripeError;
 
+  // This field and its getter are used internally and may change in a non-major version
+  // of the SDK
+  ApiMode stripeErrorApiMode;
+
   public void setStripeError(StripeError err) {
     stripeError = err;
+    stripeErrorApiMode = ApiMode.V1;
   }
 
+  public void setStripeV2Error(StripeError err) {
+    stripeError = err;
+    stripeErrorApiMode = ApiMode.V2;
+  }
   /**
    * Returns the error code of the response that triggered this exception. For {@link ApiException}
    * the error code will be equal to {@link StripeError#getCode()}.
@@ -68,7 +78,8 @@ public String getMessage() {
     if (requestId != null) {
       additionalInfo += "; request-id: " + requestId;
     }
-    if (this.getUserMessage() != null) {
+    // a separate user message is only available on v2 errors
+    if (stripeErrorApiMode == ApiMode.V2 && this.getUserMessage() != null) {
       additionalInfo += "; user-message: " + this.getUserMessage();
     }
     return super.getMessage() + additionalInfo;
@@ -81,7 +92,12 @@ public String getMessage() {
    */
   public String getUserMessage() {
     if (this.getStripeError() != null) {
-      return this.getStripeError().getUserMessage();
+      switch (stripeErrorApiMode) {
+        case V1:
+          return this.getStripeError().getMessage();
+        case V2:
+          return this.getStripeError().getUserMessage();
+      }
     }
     return null;
   }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/stripe/net/LiveStripeResponseGetter.java b/src/main/java/com/stripe/net/LiveStripeResponseGetter.java
index d40b1af01b3..0caba0cfd38 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/stripe/net/LiveStripeResponseGetter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/stripe/net/LiveStripeResponseGetter.java
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ private void handleV2ApiError(StripeResponse response) throws StripeException {
     error.setLastResponse(response);
     exception =
         new ApiException(error.getMessage(), response.requestId(), code, response.code(), null);
-    exception.setStripeError(error);
+    exception.setStripeV2Error(error);
     throw exception;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/stripe/exception/StripeExceptionTest.java b/src/test/java/com/stripe/exception/StripeExceptionTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..75730cb74d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/stripe/exception/StripeExceptionTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package com.stripe.exception;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
+
+import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
+import com.stripe.BaseStripeTest;
+import com.stripe.model.StripeError;
+import com.stripe.net.ApiMode;
+import com.stripe.net.ApiResource;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+public class StripeExceptionTest extends BaseStripeTest {
+
+  @Test
+  public void testSetStripeError() throws IOException {
+    final String data = getResourceAsString("/api_fixtures/error_invalid_request.json");
+    final JsonObject jsonObject =
+        ApiResource.GSON.fromJson(data, JsonObject.class).getAsJsonObject("error");
+    final StripeError error = ApiResource.GSON.fromJson(jsonObject, StripeError.class);
+    error.setUserMessage("it broke");
+
+    StripeException exception =
+        new StripeException(error.getMessage(), "1234", error.getCode(), 400) {};
+
+    exception.setStripeError(error);
+
+    assertNotNull(exception.getStripeError());
+    assertEquals(ApiMode.V1, exception.getStripeErrorApiMode());
+
+    assertEquals("parameter_unknown", exception.getCode());
+    assertEquals(
+        "Received unknown parameter: foo; code: parameter_unknown; request-id: 1234",
+        exception.getMessage());
+    assertEquals(error.getMessage(), exception.getUserMessage());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testSetStripeV2Error() throws IOException {
+    final String data = getResourceAsString("/api_fixtures/error_invalid_request.json");
+    final JsonObject jsonObject =
+        ApiResource.GSON.fromJson(data, JsonObject.class).getAsJsonObject("error");
+    final StripeError error = ApiResource.GSON.fromJson(jsonObject, StripeError.class);
+    StripeException exception =
+        new StripeException(error.getMessage(), "1234", error.getCode(), 400) {};
+    error.setUserMessage("it broke");
+
+    exception.setStripeV2Error(error);
+
+    assertNotNull(exception.getStripeError());
+    assertEquals(ApiMode.V2, exception.getStripeErrorApiMode());
+
+    assertNotNull(error);
+    assertEquals("parameter_unknown", exception.getCode());
+    assertEquals(
+        "Received unknown parameter: foo; code: parameter_unknown; request-id: 1234; user-message: it broke",
+        exception.getMessage());
+    assertEquals("it broke", exception.getUserMessage());
+  }
+}