diff --git a/src/leiningen/clean.clj b/src/leiningen/clean.clj
index c9477d1af..9fd6f18c7 100644
--- a/src/leiningen/clean.clj
+++ b/src/leiningen/clean.clj
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 (ns leiningen.clean
   "Remove all files from project's target-path."
   (:require [clojure.java.io :as io]
-            [leiningen.core.utils :as utils])
+            [leiningen.core.utils :as utils]
+            [leiningen.core.main :as main])
   (:import [java.io IOException]))
 
 (defn real-directory?
@@ -59,10 +60,11 @@
   [project]
   (-> project :clean-targets meta (get :protect true)))
 
-(defn- error-msg [pre]
-  (str pre " "
-       "Check :clean-targets or override this behavior by adding metadata -> "
-       ":clean-targets ^{:protect false} [...targets...]"))
+(defn- error-msg [& args]
+  (apply str (concat args
+                     "\nCheck :clean-targets"
+                     " or override this behavior by adding metadata ->"
+                     "\n  :clean-targets ^{:protect false} [...targets...]")))
 
 (defn- sanity-check
   "Ensure that a clean-target string refers to a directory that is sensible to
@@ -71,13 +73,11 @@
   (when (and (string? clean-target)
              (protect-clean-targets? project))
     (cond (not (ancestor? (:root project) clean-target))
-          (throw (IOException.
-                  (error-msg
-                   (format "Deleting a path outside of the project root [\"%s\"] is not allowed." clean-target))))
+          (main/abort (error-msg "Deleting path outside of the project root [\""
+                                 clean-target "\"] is not allowed."))
           (protected-path? project clean-target)
-          (throw (IOException.
-                  (error-msg
-                   (format "Deleting non-target project paths [\"%s\"] is not allowed." clean-target)))))))
+          (main/abort (error-msg "Deleting non-target project paths [\""
+                                 clean-target "%s\"] is not allowed.")))))
 
 (defn- with-parent-target-path
   "Assoc the :target-path sans the profile suffix, if any format
diff --git a/test/leiningen/test/clean.clj b/test/leiningen/test/clean.clj
index aa8c2a16d..4eab5c782 100644
--- a/test/leiningen/test/clean.clj
+++ b/test/leiningen/test/clean.clj
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   (:use [clojure.test]
         [clojure.java.io :only [file make-parents writer]]
         [leiningen.clean :only [clean]]
-        [leiningen.test.helper :only [sample-project]])
+        [leiningen.test.helper :only [sample-project noerr-fixture]])
   (:require [leiningen.core.project :as project]))
 
 (def target-1 (:target-path sample-project))
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
 
     ;; The original delete-file-recursively is potentially destructive, so let's mock it.
     (with-redefs [leiningen.clean/delete-file-recursively mock-delete-files]
-      (f))))
+      (f)))
+  noerr-fixture)
 
 (defn assert-cleaned
   "Asserts that the mock was called for the given target path."
@@ -77,8 +78,8 @@
       (let [modified-project
             (assoc sample-project
               :clean-targets [test-dir])]
-        (is (thrown-with-msg? java.io.IOException #"project root"
-                     (clean modified-project))))))
+        (is (thrown-with-msg? clojure.lang.ExceptionInfo #"project root"
+                              (clean modified-project))))))
 
   (testing "should not delete protected project paths"
     (doseq [path-key [:test-paths :resource-paths :source-paths :java-source-paths]]
@@ -87,21 +88,21 @@
             (assoc sample-project
               path-key [test-path]
               :clean-targets [test-path])]
-        (is (thrown-with-msg? java.io.IOException #"non-target"
+        (is (thrown-with-msg? clojure.lang.ExceptionInfo #"non-target"
                               (clean modified-project))))))
 
   (testing "should not delete project.clj"
     (let [modified-project
           (assoc sample-project
             :clean-targets [(relative-to-absolute-project-path "project.clj")])]
-      (is (thrown-with-msg? java.io.IOException #"non-target"
+      (is (thrown-with-msg? clojure.lang.ExceptionInfo #"non-target"
                             (clean modified-project)))))
 
   (testing "should not delete docs"
     (let [modified-project
           (assoc sample-project
             :clean-targets [(relative-to-absolute-project-path "doc/stuff.doc")])]
-      (is (thrown-with-msg? java.io.IOException #"non-target"
+      (is (thrown-with-msg? clojure.lang.ExceptionInfo #"non-target"
                             (clean modified-project))))))
 
 (deftest test-protect-metadata-override
diff --git a/test/leiningen/test/helper.clj b/test/leiningen/test/helper.clj
index bbf4966a3..11b444477 100644
--- a/test/leiningen/test/helper.clj
+++ b/test/leiningen/test/helper.clj
@@ -106,3 +106,7 @@
   [filename f]
   (with-open [z (java.util.zip.ZipFile. filename)]
     (reduce #(conj %1 (f %2)) [] (entries z))))
+
+(defn noerr-fixture [f]
+  (binding [*err* (java.io.StringWriter.)]
+    (f)))