diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 79847be90..5889d736b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 - Add explanation to the help text on the new feature to build query string from msg.payload #2116
 - Bump bcrypt to latest
 - Add Korean locales files for nodes #2100
+- Add error message if catalog is invalid json
 
 #### 0.20.3: Maintenance Release
 
diff --git a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/ui/palette-editor.js b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/ui/palette-editor.js
index d04e460d8..cdea06b77 100644
--- a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/ui/palette-editor.js
+++ b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/editor-client/src/js/ui/palette-editor.js
@@ -382,9 +382,20 @@ RED.palette.editor = (function() {
             catalogueLoadStart = Date.now();
             var handled = 0;
             catalogues.forEach(function(catalog,index) {
-                $.getJSON(catalog, {_: new Date().getTime()},function(v) {
-                    handleCatalogResponse(null,catalog,index,v);
-                    refreshNodeModuleList();
+                $.ajax({
+                  dataType: "json",
+                  url: catalog,
+                  data: {_: new Date().getTime()},
+                  success: function(v) {
+                      try {
+                          var parsed = JSON.parse(v);
+                          handleCatalogResponse(null,catalog,index,parsed);
+                          refreshNodeModuleList();
+                      } catch(err) {
+                          console.error(catalog,err.toString())
+                          handleCatalogResponse(err,catalog,index);
+                      }
+                  }
                 }).fail(function(jqxhr, textStatus, error) {
                     handleCatalogResponse(jqxhr,catalog,index);
                 }).always(function() {