diff --git a/static/css/core-ui.css b/static/css/core-ui.css
index b080347e9..217d31de1 100644
--- a/static/css/core-ui.css
+++ b/static/css/core-ui.css
@@ -763,7 +763,7 @@ a:focus {
 }
 
 .config-setup-tool .service-verification-error {
-  white-space: pre;
+  white-space: pre-wrap;
   margin-top: 10px;
   margin-left: 36px;
   margin-bottom: 20px;
diff --git a/util/config/validators/validate_secscan.py b/util/config/validators/validate_secscan.py
index 14cf0e81b..c5efd34b0 100644
--- a/util/config/validators/validate_secscan.py
+++ b/util/config/validators/validate_secscan.py
@@ -24,13 +24,23 @@ class SecurityScannerValidator(BaseValidator):
     # We have to wait for JWT proxy to restart with the newly generated key.
     max_tries = 5
     response = None
+    last_exception = None
+
     while max_tries > 0:
-      response = api.ping()
-      if response.status_code == 200:
-        return
+      try:
+        response = api.ping()
+        last_exception = None
+        if response.status_code == 200:
+          return
+      except Exception as ex:
+        last_exception = ex
 
       time.sleep(1)
       max_tries = max_tries - 1
 
-    message = 'Expected 200 status code, got %s: %s' % (response.status_code, response.text)
-    raise ConfigValidationException('Could not ping security scanner: %s' % message)
+    if last_exception is not None:
+      message = str(last_exception)
+      raise ConfigValidationException('Could not ping security scanner: %s' % message)
+    else:
+      message = 'Expected 200 status code, got %s: %s' % (response.status_code, response.text)
+      raise ConfigValidationException('Could not ping security scanner: %s' % message)