diff --git a/manifest_xml.py b/manifest_xml.py
index cdee87a6..bf981f03 100644
--- a/manifest_xml.py
+++ b/manifest_xml.py
@@ -310,7 +310,11 @@ class XmlManifest(object):
       self._loaded = True
 
   def _ParseManifestXml(self, path, include_root):
-    root = xml.dom.minidom.parse(path)
+    try:
+      root = xml.dom.minidom.parse(path)
+    except (OSError, xml.parsers.expat.ExpatError), e:
+      raise ManifestParseError("error parsing manifest %s: %s" % (path, e))
+
     if not root or not root.childNodes:
       raise ManifestParseError("no root node in %s" % (path,))