@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
 )
 import io
 from _io import UnsupportedOperation
+from git.exc import CommandError
 
 execute_kwargs = set(('istream', 'with_keep_cwd', 'with_extended_output',
                       'with_exceptions', 'as_process', 'stdout_as_string',
@@ -56,9 +57,6 @@
 
 __all__ = ('Git',)
 
-if is_win:
-    WindowsError = OSError  # @ReservedAssignment
-
 if PY3:
     _bchr = bchr
 else:
@@ -73,17 +71,23 @@ def _bchr(c):
 # Documentation
 ## @{
 
-def handle_process_output(process, stdout_handler, stderr_handler, finalizer,
-                          decode_stdout=True, decode_stderr=True):
+def handle_process_output(process, stdout_handler, stderr_handler, finalizer, decode_streams=True):
     """Registers for notifications to lean that process output is ready to read, and dispatches lines to
     the respective line handlers. We are able to handle carriage returns in case progress is sent by that
     mean. For performance reasons, we only apply this to stderr.
     This function returns once the finalizer returns
+
     :return: result of finalizer
     :param process: subprocess.Popen instance
     :param stdout_handler: f(stdout_line_string), or None
     :param stderr_hanlder: f(stderr_line_string), or None
-    :param finalizer: f(proc) - wait for proc to finish"""
+    :param finalizer: f(proc) - wait for proc to finish
+    :param decode_streams:
+        Assume stdout/stderr streams are binary and decode them vefore pushing \
+        their contents to handlers.
+        Set it to False if `universal_newline == True` (then streams are in text-mode)
+        or if decoding must happen later (i.e. for Diffs).
+    """
 
     def _parse_lines_from_buffer(buf):
         line = b''
@@ -156,18 +160,29 @@ def _deplete_buffer(fno, handler, buf_list, decode):
         # Oh ... probably we are on windows. or TC mockap provided for streams.
         # Anyhow, select.select() can only handle sockets, we have files
         # The only reliable way to do this now is to use threads and wait for both to finish
-        def _handle_lines(fd, handler, decode):
-            for line in fd:
-                if handler:
-                    if decode:
-                        line = line.decode(defenc)
-                    handler(line)
-
+        def pump_stream(cmdline, name, stream, is_decode, handler):
+            try:
+                for line in stream:
+                    if handler:
+                        if is_decode:
+                            line = line.decode(defenc)
+                        handler(line)
+            except Exception as ex:
+                log.error("Pumping %r of cmd(%s) failed due to: %r", name, cmdline, ex)
+                raise CommandError(['<%s-pump>' % name] + cmdline, ex)
+            finally:
+                stream.close()
+
+        cmdline = getattr(process, 'args', '')  # PY3+ only
+        if not isinstance(cmdline, (tuple, list)):
+            cmdline = cmdline.split()
         threads = []
-        for fd, handler, decode in zip((process.stdout, process.stderr),
-                                       (stdout_handler, stderr_handler),
-                                       (decode_stdout, decode_stderr),):
-            t = threading.Thread(target=_handle_lines, args=(fd, handler, decode))
+        for name, stream, handler in (
+            ('stdout', process.stdout, stdout_handler),
+            ('stderr', process.stderr, stderr_handler),
+        ):
+            t = threading.Thread(target=pump_stream,
+                                 args=(cmdline, name, stream, decode_streams, handler))
             t.setDaemon(True)
             t.start()
             threads.append(t)
@@ -177,8 +192,8 @@ def _handle_lines(fd, handler, decode):
     else:
             # poll is preferred, as select is limited to file handles up to 1024 ... . This could otherwise be
             # an issue for us, as it matters how many handles our own process has
-            fdmap = {outfn: (stdout_handler, [b''], decode_stdout),
-                     errfn: (stderr_handler, [b''], decode_stderr)}
+            fdmap = {outfn: (stdout_handler, [b''], decode_streams),
+                     errfn: (stderr_handler, [b''], decode_streams)}
 
             READ_ONLY = select.POLLIN | select.POLLPRI | select.POLLHUP | select.POLLERR  # @UndefinedVariable
             CLOSED = select.POLLHUP | select.POLLERR                                      # @UndefinedVariable
@@ -334,7 +349,8 @@ def __del__(self):
             try:
                 proc.terminate()
                 proc.wait()    # ensure process goes away
-            except (OSError, WindowsError):
+            except OSError as ex:
+                log.info("Ignored error after process has dies: %r", ex)
                 pass  # ignore error when process already died
             except AttributeError:
                 # try windows
@@ -638,12 +654,12 @@ def execute(self, command,
         env.update(self._environment)
 
         if is_win:
-            cmd_not_found_exception = WindowsError
+            cmd_not_found_exception = OSError
             if kill_after_timeout:
-                raise GitCommandError('"kill_after_timeout" feature is not supported on Windows.')
+                raise GitCommandError(command, '"kill_after_timeout" feature is not supported on Windows.')
         else:
             if sys.version_info[0] > 2:
-                cmd_not_found_exception = FileNotFoundError  # NOQA # this is defined, but flake8 doesn't know
+                cmd_not_found_exception = FileNotFoundError  # NOQA # exists, flake8 unknown @UndefinedVariable
             else:
                 cmd_not_found_exception = OSError
         # end handle
@@ -663,7 +679,7 @@ def execute(self, command,
                          **subprocess_kwargs
                          )
         except cmd_not_found_exception as err:
-            raise GitCommandNotFound('%s: %s' % (command[0], err))
+            raise GitCommandNotFound(command, err)
 
         if as_process:
             return self.AutoInterrupt(proc, command)
 
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ def _index_from_patch_format(cls, repo, proc):
 
         ## FIXME: Here SLURPING raw, need to re-phrase header-regexes linewise.
         text = []
-        handle_process_output(proc, text.append, None, finalize_process, decode_stdout=False)
+        handle_process_output(proc, text.append, None, finalize_process, decode_streams=False)
 
         # for now, we have to bake the stream
         text = b''.join(text)
@@ -499,6 +499,6 @@ def handle_diff_line(line):
                         new_file, deleted_file, rename_from, rename_to, '', change_type)
             index.append(diff)
 
-        handle_process_output(proc, handle_diff_line, None, finalize_process, decode_stdout=False)
+        handle_process_output(proc, handle_diff_line, None, finalize_process, decode_streams=False)
 
         return index
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 """ Module containing all exceptions thrown througout the git package, """
 
 from gitdb.exc import *     # NOQA
-from git.compat import UnicodeMixin, safe_decode
+from git.compat import UnicodeMixin, safe_decode, string_types
 
 
 class InvalidGitRepositoryError(Exception):
@@ -21,25 +21,56 @@ class NoSuchPathError(OSError):
     """ Thrown if a path could not be access by the system. """
 
 
-class GitCommandNotFound(Exception):
+class CommandError(UnicodeMixin, Exception):
+    """Base class for exceptions thrown at every stage of `Popen()` execution.
+
+    :param command:
+        A non-empty list of argv comprising the command-line.
+    """
+
+    #: A unicode print-format with 2 `%s for `<cmdline>` and the rest,
+    #:  e.g.
+    #:     u"'%s' failed%s"
+    _msg = u"Cmd('%s') failed%s"
+
+    def __init__(self, command, status=None, stderr=None, stdout=None):
+        assert isinstance(command, (tuple, list)), command
+        self.command = command
+        self.status = status
+        if status:
+            if isinstance(status, Exception):
+                status = u"%s('%s')" % (type(status).__name__, safe_decode(str(status)))
+            else:
+                try:
+                    status = u'exit code(%s)' % int(status)
+                except:
+                    s = safe_decode(str(status))
+                    status = u"'%s'" % s if isinstance(status, string_types) else s
+
+        self._cmd = safe_decode(command[0])
+        self._cmdline = u' '.join(safe_decode(i) for i in command)
+        self._cause = status and u" due to: %s" % status or "!"
+        self.stdout = stdout and u"\n  stdout: '%s'" % safe_decode(stdout) or ''
+        self.stderr = stderr and u"\n  stderr: '%s'" % safe_decode(stderr) or ''
+
+    def __unicode__(self):
+        return (self._msg + "\n  cmdline: %s%s%s") % (
+            self._cmd, self._cause, self._cmdline, self.stdout, self.stderr)
+
+
+class GitCommandNotFound(CommandError):
     """Thrown if we cannot find the `git` executable in the PATH or at the path given by
     the GIT_PYTHON_GIT_EXECUTABLE environment variable"""
-    pass
+    def __init__(self, command, cause):
+        super(GitCommandNotFound, self).__init__(command, cause)
+        self._msg = u"Cmd('%s') not found%s"
 
 
-class GitCommandError(UnicodeMixin, Exception):
+class GitCommandError(CommandError):
     """ Thrown if execution of the git command fails with non-zero status code. """
 
     def __init__(self, command, status, stderr=None, stdout=None):
-        self.stderr = stderr
-        self.stdout = stdout
-        self.status = status
-        self.command = command
-
-    def __unicode__(self):
-        cmdline = u' '.join(safe_decode(i) for i in self.command)
-        return (u"'%s' returned with exit code %s\n  stdout: '%s'\n  stderr: '%s'"
-                % (cmdline, self.status, safe_decode(self.stdout), safe_decode(self.stderr)))
+        super(GitCommandError, self).__init__(command, status, stderr, stdout)
 
 
 class CheckoutError(Exception):
@@ -76,20 +107,13 @@ class UnmergedEntriesError(CacheError):
     entries in the cache"""
 
 
-class HookExecutionError(UnicodeMixin, Exception):
+class HookExecutionError(CommandError):
     """Thrown if a hook exits with a non-zero exit code. It provides access to the exit code and the string returned
     via standard output"""
 
-    def __init__(self, command, status, stdout=None, stderr=None):
-        self.command = command
-        self.status = status
-        self.stdout = stdout
-        self.stderr = stderr
-
-    def __unicode__(self):
-        cmdline = u' '.join(safe_decode(i) for i in self.command)
-        return (u"'%s' hook failed with %r\n  stdout: '%s'\n  stderr: '%s'"
-                % (cmdline, self.status, safe_decode(self.stdout), safe_decode(self.stderr)))
+    def __init__(self, command, status, stderr=None, stdout=None):
+        super(HookExecutionError, self).__init__(command, status, stderr, stdout)
+        self._msg = u"Hook('%s') failed%s"
 
 
 class RepositoryDirtyError(Exception):
 
@@ -1091,6 +1091,7 @@ def handle_stderr(proc, iter_checked_out_files):
             kwargs['as_process'] = True
             kwargs['istream'] = subprocess.PIPE
             proc = self.repo.git.checkout_index(args, **kwargs)
+            # FIXME: Reading from GIL!
             make_exc = lambda: GitCommandError(("git-checkout-index",) + tuple(args), 128, proc.stderr.read())
             checked_out_files = list()
 
 
@@ -681,8 +681,7 @@ def stdout_handler(line):
         # END for each line
 
         try:
-            handle_process_output(proc, stdout_handler, progress_handler, finalize_process,
-                                  decode_stdout=False, decode_stderr=False)
+            handle_process_output(proc, stdout_handler, progress_handler, finalize_process, decode_streams=False)
         except Exception:
             if len(output) == 0:
                 raise