diff --git a/lms/static/js/discovery/discovery_factory.js b/lms/static/js/discovery/discovery_factory.js
index 514b88aefd..91ce584766 100644
--- a/lms/static/js/discovery/discovery_factory.js
+++ b/lms/static/js/discovery/discovery_factory.js
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@
                 });
 
                 dispatcher.listenTo(search, 'error', function() {
-                    form.showErrorMessage();
+                    form.showErrorMessage(search);
                     form.hideLoadingIndicator();
                 });
 
diff --git a/lms/static/js/discovery/models/search_state.js b/lms/static/js/discovery/models/search_state.js
index 2bb270f4a7..cd37f938ea 100644
--- a/lms/static/js/discovery/models/search_state.js
+++ b/lms/static/js/discovery/models/search_state.js
@@ -72,10 +72,12 @@
             reset: function() {
                 this.discovery.reset();
                 this.page = 0;
+                this.errorMessage = '';
             },
 
             onError: function(collection, response, options) {
                 if (response.statusText !== 'abort') {
+                    this.errorMessage = response.responseJSON.error;
                     this.trigger('error');
                 }
             },
diff --git a/lms/static/js/discovery/views/search_form.js b/lms/static/js/discovery/views/search_form.js
index a9b17672a9..fbbb598980 100644
--- a/lms/static/js/discovery/views/search_form.js
+++ b/lms/static/js/discovery/views/search_form.js
@@ -60,8 +60,12 @@
                 this.clearSearch();
             },
 
-            showErrorMessage: function() {
-                this.$message.html(gettext('There was an error, try searching again.'));
+            showErrorMessage: function(search) {
+                if (search && search.errorMessage) {
+                    this.$message.html(gettext(search.errorMessage));
+                } else {
+                    this.$message.html(gettext('There was an error, try searching again.'));
+                }
             }
 
         });
diff --git a/openedx/features/course_search/static/course_search/js/collections/search_collection.js b/openedx/features/course_search/static/course_search/js/collections/search_collection.js
index 867dcb07eb..29dafc88e3 100644
--- a/openedx/features/course_search/static/course_search/js/collections/search_collection.js
+++ b/openedx/features/course_search/static/course_search/js/collections/search_collection.js
@@ -40,9 +40,11 @@
                     },
                     type: 'POST',
                     success: function(self) {
+                        self.errorMessage = '';
                         self.trigger('search');
                     },
-                    error: function(self) {
+                    error: function(self, response) {
+                        self.errorMessage = response.responseJSON.error;
                         self.trigger('error');
                     }
                 });
@@ -63,7 +65,8 @@
                         self.page += 1;  // eslint-disable-line no-param-reassign
                         self.trigger('next');
                     },
-                    error: function(self) {
+                    error: function(self, response) {
+                        self.errorMessage = response.responseJSON.error;
                         self.trigger('error');
                     },
                     add: true,
diff --git a/openedx/features/course_search/static/course_search/js/views/search_results_view.js b/openedx/features/course_search/static/course_search/js/views/search_results_view.js
index 99d4f1a7e4..5d7bf188b1 100644
--- a/openedx/features/course_search/static/course_search/js/views/search_results_view.js
+++ b/openedx/features/course_search/static/course_search/js/views/search_results_view.js
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@
             },
 
             showErrorMessage: function() {
-                HtmlUtils.setHtml(this.$el, HtmlUtils.template(this.errorTemplate)());
+                HtmlUtils.setHtml(this.$el, HtmlUtils.template(this.errorTemplate)({errorMessage: this.collection.errorMessage}));
                 this.showResults();
             },
 
diff --git a/openedx/features/course_search/static/course_search/templates/search_error.underscore b/openedx/features/course_search/static/course_search/templates/search_error.underscore
index 35990e2783..4d4dcbe497 100644
--- a/openedx/features/course_search/static/course_search/templates/search_error.underscore
+++ b/openedx/features/course_search/static/course_search/templates/search_error.underscore
@@ -1 +1 @@
-<%- gettext("There was an error, try searching again.") %>
+<% if (errorMessage) { %><%- errorMessage %><%} else {%><%- gettext("There was an error, try searching again.") %><% } %>