diff --git a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/services/FeedSubscriptionService.java b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/services/FeedSubscriptionService.java
index 00ba09ed..566368c2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/services/FeedSubscriptionService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/backend/services/FeedSubscriptionService.java
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package com.commafeed.backend.services;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import javax.ejb.Stateless;
+import javax.ejb.ApplicationException;
 import javax.inject.Inject;
 
 import com.commafeed.backend.dao.FeedEntryDAO;
@@ -19,6 +20,12 @@ import com.google.api.client.util.Lists;
 
 @Stateless
 public class FeedSubscriptionService {
+	@ApplicationException
+	public class FeedSubscriptionException extends RuntimeException {
+		public FeedSubscriptionException(String msg) {
+			super(msg);
+		}
+	}
 
 	@Inject
 	FeedService feedService;
@@ -41,7 +48,12 @@ public class FeedSubscriptionService {
 	public Feed subscribe(User user, String url, String title,
 			FeedCategory category) {
 
-		if (url.startsWith(applicationSettingsService.get().getPublicUrl())) {
+		final String pubUrl = applicationSettingsService.get().getPublicUrl();
+		if (pubUrl == null) {
+			throw new FeedSubscriptionException(
+				"Public URL of this CommaFeed is unset");
+		}
+		if (url.startsWith(pubUrl)) {
 			throw new RuntimeException(
 					"Could not subscribe to a feed from this CommaFeed instance");
 		}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/frontend/rest/resources/FeedREST.java b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/frontend/rest/resources/FeedREST.java
index 68394500..3b4c9b03 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/commafeed/frontend/rest/resources/FeedREST.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/commafeed/frontend/rest/resources/FeedREST.java
@@ -224,9 +224,15 @@ public class FeedREST extends AbstractResourceREST {
 		FeedCategory category = CategoryREST.ALL.equals(req.getCategoryId()) ? null
 				: feedCategoryDAO.findById(Long.valueOf(req.getCategoryId()));
 		FeedInfo info = (FeedInfo) fetchFeed(url).getEntity();
-		feedSubscriptionService.subscribe(getUser(), info.getUrl(),
+		try {
+			feedSubscriptionService.subscribe(getUser(), info.getUrl(),
 				req.getTitle(), category);
-
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			log.info("Failed to subscribe to URL {}: {}", url, e.getMessage());
+			return Response.status(Status.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE).entity(
+				"Failed to subscribe to URL " + url + ": " + e.getMessage()
+			).build();
+		}
 		return Response.ok(Status.OK).build();
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/main/webapp/js/controllers.js b/src/main/webapp/js/controllers.js
index b635265f..fc46eb18 100644
--- a/src/main/webapp/js/controllers.js
+++ b/src/main/webapp/js/controllers.js
@@ -75,8 +75,11 @@ function($scope, FeedService, CategoryService) {
 		}
 		FeedService.subscribe($scope.sub, function() {
 			CategoryService.init();
+			$scope.close();
+		}, function(data) {
+			$scope.state = 'failed';
+			$scope.sub.title = 'ERROR: ' + data.data;
 		});
-		$scope.close();
 	};
 
 	$scope.openImport = function() {