diff --git a/infer/src/base/Config.ml b/infer/src/base/Config.ml
index 891c486a1..a0f7e46f0 100644
--- a/infer/src/base/Config.ml
+++ b/infer/src/base/Config.ml
@@ -1499,7 +1499,16 @@ let post_parsing_initialization () =
   );
   if !version <> `None then exit 0;
 
-  if !developer_mode then Printexc.record_backtrace true ;
+  (* Core sets a verbose exception handler by default, with backtrace. This is good for developers
+     but in user-mode we want something lighter weight. *)
+  if not !developer_mode then
+    Caml.Printexc.set_uncaught_exception_handler
+      (fun exn _ ->
+         let exn_msg = match exn with
+           | Failure msg -> msg
+           | _ -> "ERROR: " ^ Caml.Printexc.to_string exn in
+         Format.eprintf "%s@?" exn_msg
+      );
 
   F.set_margin !margin ;
 
diff --git a/infer/src/base/Utils.ml b/infer/src/base/Utils.ml
index e98a8bb4e..055be9bd3 100644
--- a/infer/src/base/Utils.ml
+++ b/infer/src/base/Utils.ml
@@ -205,14 +205,20 @@ let do_finally f g =
   let res' = g () in
   (res, res')
 
-let with_file file ~f =
-  let oc = open_out file in
+let with_file_in file ~f =
+  let ic = In_channel.create file in
+  let f () = f ic in
+  let g () =  In_channel.close ic in
+  do_finally f g |> fst
+
+let with_file_out file ~f =
+  let oc = Out_channel.create file in
   let f () = f oc in
-  let g () = Out_channel.close oc in
+  let g () =  Out_channel.close oc in
   do_finally f g |> fst
 
 let write_json_to_file destfile json =
-  with_file destfile ~f:(fun oc -> Yojson.Basic.pretty_to_channel oc json)
+  with_file_out destfile ~f:(fun oc -> Yojson.Basic.pretty_to_channel oc json)
 
 let consume_in chan_in =
   try
@@ -227,6 +233,18 @@ let with_process_in command read =
     Unix.close_process_in chan in
   do_finally f g
 
+let shell_escape_command cmd =
+  let escape arg =
+    (* ends on-going single quote, output single quote inside double quotes, then open a new single
+       quote *)
+    Escape.escape_map (function | '\'' -> Some "'\"'\"'" | _ -> None) arg
+    |> Printf.sprintf "'%s'" in
+  List.map ~f:escape cmd |> String.concat ~sep:" "
+
+let run_command_and_get_output cmd =
+  let shell_escaped_cmd = shell_escape_command cmd in
+  with_process_in (Printf.sprintf "%s 2>&1" shell_escaped_cmd) In_channel.input_lines
+
 (** Create a directory if it does not exist already. *)
 let create_dir dir =
   try
diff --git a/infer/src/base/Utils.mli b/infer/src/base/Utils.mli
index c0309d831..e9dde561b 100644
--- a/infer/src/base/Utils.mli
+++ b/infer/src/base/Utils.mli
@@ -57,13 +57,16 @@ val dir_is_empty : string -> bool
 
 val read_optional_json_file : string -> (Yojson.Basic.json, string) Result.t
 
-val with_file : string -> f:(out_channel -> 'a) -> 'a
+val with_file_in : string -> f:(In_channel.t -> 'a) -> 'a
+val with_file_out : string -> f:(Out_channel.t -> 'a) -> 'a
 
 val write_json_to_file : string -> Yojson.Basic.json -> unit
 
 val consume_in : in_channel -> unit
 
-val with_process_in: string -> (in_channel -> 'a) -> ('a * Unix.Exit_or_signal.t)
+val with_process_in : string -> (in_channel -> 'a) -> ('a * Unix.Exit_or_signal.t)
+
+val shell_escape_command : string list -> string
 
 (** create a directory if it does not exist already *)
 val create_dir : string -> unit
diff --git a/infer/src/clang/ClangWrapper.re b/infer/src/clang/ClangWrapper.re
index b1456f93e..f550c8419 100644
--- a/infer/src/clang/ClangWrapper.re
+++ b/infer/src/clang/ClangWrapper.re
@@ -87,12 +87,12 @@ let normalize prog::prog args::args :list action_item => {
 
 let exec_action_item =
   fun
-  | ClangError error => {
-      /* An error in the output of `clang -### ...`. Outputs the error and fail. This is because
-         `clang -###` pretty much never fails, but warns of failures on stderr instead. */
-      Logging.stderr "%s@." error;
-      exit 1
-    }
+  | ClangError error =>
+    /* An error in the output of `clang -### ...`. Outputs the error and fail. This is because
+       `clang -###` pretty much never fails, but warns of failures on stderr instead. */
+    failwithf
+      "@\n*** ERROR: Failed to execute compilation command. Output:@\n%s@\n*** Infer needs a working compilation command to run.@."
+      error
   | ClangWarning warning => Logging.stderr "%s@\n" warning
   | Command clang_cmd => Capture.capture clang_cmd;
 
diff --git a/infer/src/clang/cTL.ml b/infer/src/clang/cTL.ml
index 6e9029e01..9c77151a1 100644
--- a/infer/src/clang/cTL.ml
+++ b/infer/src/clang/cTL.ml
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ let save_dotty_when_in_debug_mode source_file =
       let source_file_basename = Filename.basename (SourceFile.to_abs_path source_file) in
       let file = dotty_dir ^/ (source_file_basename ^ ".dot") in
       let dotty = Debug.EvaluationTracker.DottyPrinter.dotty_of_ctl_evaluation !tracker in
-      Utils.with_file file ~f:(fun oc -> output_string oc dotty)
+      Utils.with_file_out file ~f:(fun oc -> output_string oc dotty)
   | _ -> ()
 
 (* Helper functions *)
diff --git a/infer/src/integration/CaptureCompilationDatabase.ml b/infer/src/integration/CaptureCompilationDatabase.ml
index 5b41cbd71..bdeee1e71 100644
--- a/infer/src/integration/CaptureCompilationDatabase.ml
+++ b/infer/src/integration/CaptureCompilationDatabase.ml
@@ -87,8 +87,7 @@ let get_compilation_database_files_buck () =
       Process.create_process_and_wait ~prog:buck ~args:build_args;
       let buck_targets_shell =
         buck :: "targets" :: "--show-output" :: args_with_flavor
-        |> List.map ~f:(Printf.sprintf "'%s'")
-        |> String.concat ~sep:" " in
+        |> Utils.shell_escape_command in
       try
         match fst @@ Utils.with_process_in buck_targets_shell In_channel.input_lines with
         | [] -> Logging.stdout "There are no files to process, exiting."; exit 0
@@ -107,8 +106,7 @@ let get_compilation_database_files_buck () =
             List.fold ~f:scan_output ~init:[] lines
       with Unix.Unix_error (err, _, _) ->
         Process.print_error_and_exit
-          "Cannot execute %s\n%!"
-          (buck_targets_shell ^ " " ^ (Unix.error_message err))
+          "Cannot execute %s: %s\n%!" buck_targets_shell (Unix.error_message err)
     )
   | _ ->
       let cmd = String.concat ~sep:" " cmd in
diff --git a/infer/src/integration/ClangQuotes.re b/infer/src/integration/ClangQuotes.re
index 0dd82c8b0..c7f27e692 100644
--- a/infer/src/integration/ClangQuotes.re
+++ b/infer/src/integration/ClangQuotes.re
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ let mk_arg_file prefix style args => {
   let file = Filename.temp_file in_dir::temp_dir prefix ".txt";
   let write_args outc =>
     output_string outc (List.map f::(quote style) args |> String.concat sep::" ");
-  Utils.with_file file f::write_args |> ignore;
+  Utils.with_file_out file f::write_args |> ignore;
   Logging.out "Clang options stored in file %s@\n" file;
   file
 };
diff --git a/infer/src/integration/Javac.ml b/infer/src/integration/Javac.ml
index 299080c6d..1a04c4a04 100644
--- a/infer/src/integration/Javac.ml
+++ b/infer/src/integration/Javac.ml
@@ -59,23 +59,37 @@ let compile compiler build_prog build_args =
     file in
   let cli_file_args = cli_args @ ["@" ^ args_file] in
   let args = prog_args @ cli_file_args in
+  L.out "Current working directory: '%s'@." (Sys.getcwd ());
   let verbose_out_file = Filename.temp_file "javac_" ".out" in
-  Unix.with_file verbose_out_file ~mode:[Unix.O_WRONLY] ~f:(
-    fun verbose_out_fd ->
-      L.out "Logging into %s@\n" verbose_out_file;
-      L.out "Current working directory: '%s'@." (Sys.getcwd ());
-      try
-        L.out "Trying to execute: '%s' '%s'@." prog (String.concat ~sep:"' '" args);
-        Unix_.fork_redirect_exec_wait ~prog ~args ~stderr:verbose_out_fd ()
-      with exn ->
-      try
-        L.out "*** Failed!@\nTrying to execute javac instead: '%s' '%s'@\nLogging into %s@."
-          "javac" (String.concat ~sep:"' '" cli_file_args) verbose_out_file;
-        Unix_.fork_redirect_exec_wait ~prog:"javac" ~args:cli_file_args ~stderr:verbose_out_fd ()
-      with _ ->
-        L.stderr "Failed to execute: %s %s@." prog (String.concat ~sep:" " args);
-        raise exn
-  );
+  let try_run cmd error_k =
+    let shell_cmd = Utils.shell_escape_command cmd in
+    let shell_cmd_redirected =
+      Printf.sprintf "%s 2>'%s'" shell_cmd verbose_out_file in
+    L.out "Trying to execute: %s@." shell_cmd_redirected;
+    let error_k_or_fail err_msg =
+      match error_k, err_msg with
+      | Some k, (`UnixError (err, log)) ->
+          L.out "*** Failed: %s!@\n%s@." (Unix.Exit_or_signal.to_string_hum (Error err)) log;
+          k ()
+      | Some k, (`ExceptionError exn) ->
+          L.out "*** Failed: %a!@\n" Exn.pp exn;
+          k ()
+      | None, (`UnixError (err, log)) ->
+          let verbose_errlog = Utils.with_file_in verbose_out_file ~f:In_channel.input_all in
+          failwithf "@\n*** ERROR Failed to execute compilation command: %s@\n*** Command: %s@\n\
+                     *** Output:@\n%s%s@\n*** Infer needs a working compilation command to run.@."
+            (Unix.Exit_or_signal.to_string_hum (Error err)) shell_cmd log verbose_errlog;
+      | None, (`ExceptionError exn) ->
+          raise exn in
+    match Utils.with_process_in shell_cmd_redirected In_channel.input_all with
+    | (log, Error err) ->
+        error_k_or_fail (`UnixError (err, log))
+    | exception exn ->
+        error_k_or_fail (`ExceptionError exn)
+    | (log, Ok ()) ->
+        L.out "*** Success. Logs:@\n%s" log in
+  let fallback () = try_run ("javac"::cli_file_args) None in
+  try_run (prog::args) (Some fallback);
   verbose_out_file
 
 
diff --git a/infer/src/integration/Maven.ml b/infer/src/integration/Maven.ml
index e4412774f..bf2818335 100644
--- a/infer/src/integration/Maven.ml
+++ b/infer/src/integration/Maven.ml
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ let add_infer_profile mvn_pom infer_pom =
       let xml_out = Xmlm.make_output ~nl:true (`Channel out_chan) in
       add_infer_profile_to_xml (Filename.dirname mvn_pom) xml_in xml_out in
     protect ~f:with_ic ~finally:(fun () -> In_channel.close ic) in
-  Utils.with_file infer_pom ~f:with_oc
+  Utils.with_file_out infer_pom ~f:with_oc
 
 let add_profile_to_pom_in_directory dir =
   (* Even though there is a "-f" command-line arguments to change the config file Maven reads from,