diff --git a/dfsclient/src/main/java/org/hpccsystems/dfs/client/BinaryRecordReader.java b/dfsclient/src/main/java/org/hpccsystems/dfs/client/BinaryRecordReader.java
index 6316a9749..c3c526b57 100644
--- a/dfsclient/src/main/java/org/hpccsystems/dfs/client/BinaryRecordReader.java
+++ b/dfsclient/src/main/java/org/hpccsystems/dfs/client/BinaryRecordReader.java
@@ -525,7 +525,14 @@ private Object parseFlatField(FieldDef fd, boolean isLittleEndian) throws Unpars
                 else
                 {
                     boolean shouldTrim = shouldTrimStrings;
-                    fieldValue = getNullTerminatedString(fd.getSourceType(), shouldTrim);
+                    try
+                    {
+                        fieldValue = getNullTerminatedString(fd.getSourceType(), shouldTrim);
+                    }
+                    catch (IOException e)
+                    {
+                        throw new UnparsableContentException("Parsing VAR_STRING: " + fd.getFieldName() + " failed with error: " + e.getMessage(), e);
+                    }
                 }
                 break;
             }