diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/log/LogManager.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/log/LogManager.scala
index 958614b..80e4163 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/log/LogManager.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/log/LogManager.scala
@@ -275,10 +275,10 @@ private[kafka] class LogManager(val config: KafkaConfig,
       }
       catch {
         case e =>
-          logger.error("error flushing " + log.getTopicName, e)
+          logger.error("Error flushing topic " + log.getTopicName, e)
           e match {
             case _: IOException =>
-              logger.error("force shutdown due to error in flushAllLogs" + e)
+              logger.fatal("Halting due to unrecoverable I/O error while flushing logs: " + e.getMessage, e)
               Runtime.getRuntime.halt(1)
             case _ =>
           }
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/KafkaRequestHandlers.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/KafkaRequestHandlers.scala
index 9124d60..eb39e16 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/KafkaRequestHandlers.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/server/KafkaRequestHandlers.scala
@@ -78,10 +78,10 @@ private[kafka] class KafkaRequestHandlers(val logManager: LogManager) {
     }
     catch {
       case e =>
-        logger.error("error processing " + requestHandlerName + " on " + request.topic + ":" + partition, e)
+        logger.error("Error processing " + requestHandlerName + " on " + request.topic + ":" + partition, e)
         e match {
           case _: IOException =>
-            logger.error("force shutdown due to " + e)
+            logger.fatal("Halting due to unrecoverable I/O error while handling producer request: " + e.getMessage, e)
             Runtime.getRuntime.halt(1)
           case _ =>
         }