diff --git a/client/app/components/ApplicationArea/ErrorMessage.jsx b/client/app/components/ApplicationArea/ErrorMessage.jsx
index cc8e5454b..44dcfdaab 100644
--- a/client/app/components/ApplicationArea/ErrorMessage.jsx
+++ b/client/app/components/ApplicationArea/ErrorMessage.jsx
@@ -14,29 +14,19 @@ function getErrorMessageByStatus(status, defaultMessage) {
   }
 }
 
-export function getErrorMessage(
-  error,
-  defaultMessage = "It seems like we encountered an error. Try refreshing this page or contact your administrator."
-) {
+function getErrorMessage(error) {
+  const message = "It seems like we encountered an error. Try refreshing this page or contact your administrator.";
   if (isObject(error)) {
     // HTTP errors
     if (error.isAxiosError && isObject(error.response)) {
-      const errorData = get(error, "response.data", {});
-
-      // handle cases where the message is an object as { "message": msg } or { "error": msg }
-      const errorMessage = errorData.message || errorData.error || defaultMessage;
-      return getErrorMessageByStatus(error.response.status, errorMessage);
+      return getErrorMessageByStatus(error.response.status, get(error, "response.data.message", message));
     }
     // Router errors
     if (error.status) {
-      return getErrorMessageByStatus(error.status, defaultMessage);
-    }
-    // Other Error instances
-    if (error.message) {
-      return error.message;
+      return getErrorMessageByStatus(error.status, message);
     }
   }
-  return defaultMessage;
+  return message;
 }
 
 export default function ErrorMessage({ error }) {
diff --git a/client/app/components/ApplicationArea/ErrorMessage.test.js b/client/app/components/ApplicationArea/ErrorMessage.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..048532c5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/app/components/ApplicationArea/ErrorMessage.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+import React from "react";
+import { mount } from "enzyme";
+import ErrorMessage from "./ErrorMessage";
+
+const ErrorMessages = {
+  UNAUTHORIZED: "It seems like you don’t have permission to see this page.",
+  NOT_FOUND: "It seems like the page you're looking for cannot be found.",
+  GENERIC: "It seems like we encountered an error. Try refreshing this page or contact your administrator.",
+};
+
+function mockAxiosError(status = 500, response = {}) {
+  const error = new Error(`Failed with code ${status}.`);
+  error.isAxiosError = true;
+  error.response = { status, ...response };
+  return error;
+}
+
+describe("Error Message", () => {
+  const spyError = jest.spyOn(console, "error");
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    spyError.mockReset();
+  });
+
+  function expectErrorMessageToBe(error, errorMessage) {
+    const component = mount(<ErrorMessage error={error} />);
+
+    expect(component.find(".error-state__details h4").text()).toBe(errorMessage);
+    expect(spyError).toHaveBeenCalledWith(error);
+  }
+
+  test("displays a generic message on adhoc errors", () => {
+    expectErrorMessageToBe(new Error("technical information"), ErrorMessages.GENERIC);
+  });
+
+  test("displays a not found message on axios errors with 404 code", () => {
+    expectErrorMessageToBe(mockAxiosError(404), ErrorMessages.NOT_FOUND);
+  });
+
+  test("displays a unauthorized message on axios errors with 401 code", () => {
+    expectErrorMessageToBe(mockAxiosError(401), ErrorMessages.UNAUTHORIZED);
+  });
+
+  test("displays a unauthorized message on axios errors with 403 code", () => {
+    expectErrorMessageToBe(mockAxiosError(403), ErrorMessages.UNAUTHORIZED);
+  });
+
+  test("displays a generic message on axios errors with 500 code", () => {
+    expectErrorMessageToBe(mockAxiosError(500), ErrorMessages.GENERIC);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/client/app/components/CreateSourceDialog.jsx b/client/app/components/CreateSourceDialog.jsx
index a49601b4f..cebf2e1a3 100644
--- a/client/app/components/CreateSourceDialog.jsx
+++ b/client/app/components/CreateSourceDialog.jsx
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 import React from "react";
 import PropTypes from "prop-types";
-import { isEmpty, toUpper, includes } from "lodash";
+import { isEmpty, toUpper, includes, get } from "lodash";
 import Button from "antd/lib/button";
 import List from "antd/lib/list";
 import Modal from "antd/lib/modal";
 import Input from "antd/lib/input";
 import Steps from "antd/lib/steps";
-import { getErrorMessage } from "@/components/ApplicationArea/ErrorMessage";
 import { wrap as wrapDialog, DialogPropType } from "@/components/DialogWrapper";
 import { PreviewCard } from "@/components/PreviewCard";
 import EmptyState from "@/components/items-list/components/EmptyState";
@@ -67,7 +66,7 @@ class CreateSourceDialog extends React.Component {
         })
         .catch(error => {
           this.setState({ savingSource: false, currentStep: StepEnum.CONFIGURE_IT });
-          errorCallback(getErrorMessage(error, "Failed saving."));
+          errorCallback(get(error, "response.data.message", "Failed saving."));
         });
     }
   };