diff --git a/lib/entry-points.js b/lib/entry-points.js
index 3fbacc32e..38ca1d699 100644
--- a/lib/entry-points.js
+++ b/lib/entry-points.js
@@ -153261,7 +153261,14 @@ async function getCodeQLForCmd(logger, cmd, checkVersion) {
           }
         }
       ).exec();
-      return JSON.parse(extractorPath);
+      try {
+        return JSON.parse(extractorPath);
+      } catch (err) {
+        throw new Error(
+          `Failed to parse extractor path for '${language}' from CLI: ${getErrorMessage(err)}
+Output was: ${extractorPath}`
+        );
+      }
     },
     async resolveQueriesStartingPacks(queries) {
       const codeqlArgs = [
diff --git a/src/codeql.ts b/src/codeql.ts
index 65e73d945..2dfc65996 100644
--- a/src/codeql.ts
+++ b/src/codeql.ts
@@ -951,7 +951,13 @@ async function getCodeQLForCmd(
           },
         },
       ).exec();
-      return JSON.parse(extractorPath) as string;
+      try {
+        return JSON.parse(extractorPath) as string;
+      } catch (err) {
+        throw new Error(
+          `Failed to parse extractor path for '${language}' from CLI: ${getErrorMessage(err)}\nOutput was: ${extractorPath}`,
+        );
+      }
     },
     async resolveQueriesStartingPacks(queries: string[]): Promise<string[]> {
       const codeqlArgs = [