diff --git a/app/scripts/background.js b/app/scripts/background.js
index 0da079eb6..4487ff318 100644
--- a/app/scripts/background.js
+++ b/app/scripts/background.js
@@ -14,8 +14,10 @@ const NotificationManager = require('./lib/notification-manager.js')
 const MetamaskController = require('./metamask-controller')
 const firstTimeState = require('./first-time-state')
 const setupRaven = require('./lib/setupRaven')
+const reportFailedTxToSentry = require('./lib/reportFailedTxToSentry')
 const setupMetamaskMeshMetrics = require('./lib/setupMetamaskMeshMetrics')
 
+
 const STORAGE_KEY = 'metamask-config'
 const METAMASK_DEBUG = 'GULP_METAMASK_DEBUG'
 
@@ -86,11 +88,7 @@ function setupController (initState) {
   controller.txController.on(`tx:status-update`, (txId, status) => {
     if (status !== 'failed') return
     const txMeta = controller.txController.txStateManager.getTx(txId)
-    const errorMessage = `Transaction Failed: ${txMeta.err.message}`
-    raven.captureMessage(errorMessage, {
-      // "extra" key is required by Sentry
-      extra: txMeta,
-    })
+    reportFailedTxToSentry({ raven, txMeta })
   })
 
   // setup state persistence
diff --git a/app/scripts/lib/reportFailedTxToSentry.js b/app/scripts/lib/reportFailedTxToSentry.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..67b0acf43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/scripts/lib/reportFailedTxToSentry.js
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+const ethJsRpcSlug = 'Error: [ethjs-rpc] rpc error with payload '
+const errorLabelPrefix = 'Error: '
+
+module.exports = reportFailedTxToSentry
+
+//
+// utility for formatting failed transaction messages
+// for sending to sentry
+//
+
+function reportFailedTxToSentry({ raven, txMeta }) {
+  const errorMessage = extractErrorMessage(txMeta.err.message)
+  raven.captureMessage(errorMessage, {
+    // "extra" key is required by Sentry
+    extra: txMeta,
+  })
+}
+
+//
+// ethjs-rpc provides overly verbose error messages
+// if we detect this type of message, we extract the important part
+// Below is an example input and output
+//
+// Error: [ethjs-rpc] rpc error with payload {"id":3947817945380,"jsonrpc":"2.0","params":["0xf8eb8208708477359400830398539406012c8cf97bead5deae237070f9587f8e7a266d80b8843d7d3f5a0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000081d1a000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001ff973cafa800000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000038d7ea4c68000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000003f48025a04c32a9b630e0d9e7ff361562d850c86b7a884908135956a7e4a336fa0300d19ca06830776423f25218e8d19b267161db526e66895567147015b1f3fc47aef9a3c7"],"method":"eth_sendRawTransaction"} Error: replacement transaction underpriced
+//
+// "Transaction Failed: replacement transaction underpriced"
+//
+
+function extractErrorMessage(errorMessage) {
+  const isEthjsRpcError = errorMessage.includes(ethJsRpcSlug)
+  if (isEthjsRpcError) {
+    const payloadAndError = errorMessage.slice(ethJsRpcSlug.length)
+    const originalError = payloadAndError.slice(payloadAndError.indexOf(errorLabelPrefix) + errorLabelPrefix.length)
+    return `Transaction Failed: ${originalError}`
+  } else {
+    return `Transaction Failed: ${errorMessage}`
+  }
+}