diff --git a/lib/cartodb/backends/analysis-status.js b/lib/cartodb/backends/analysis-status.js
index 211157d8..97f851d2 100644
--- a/lib/cartodb/backends/analysis-status.js
+++ b/lib/cartodb/backends/analysis-status.js
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@ module.exports = AnalysisStatusBackend;
 AnalysisStatusBackend.prototype.getNodeStatus = function (params, callback) {
     var nodeId = params.nodeId;
 
-    var statusQuery = 'SELECT node_id, status, updated_at FROM cdb_analysis_catalog where node_id = \'' + nodeId + '\'';
+    var statusQuery = [
+        'SELECT node_id, status, updated_at, last_error_message as error_message',
+        'FROM cdb_analysis_catalog where node_id = \'' + nodeId + '\''
+    ].join(' ');
 
     var pg = new PSQL(dbParamsFromReqParams(params));
     pg.query(statusQuery, function(err, result) {
@@ -21,10 +24,16 @@ AnalysisStatusBackend.prototype.getNodeStatus = function (params, callback) {
 
         var rows = result.rows || [];
 
-        return callback(null, rows[0] || {
+        var statusResponse = rows[0] || {
             node_id: nodeId,
             status: 'unknown'
-        });
+        };
+
+        if (statusResponse.status !== 'failed') {
+            delete statusResponse.error_message;
+        }
+
+        return callback(null, statusResponse);
     }, true); // use read-only transaction
 };