diff --git a/bin/lib/check_reqs.js b/bin/lib/check_reqs.js
index 73b2b998..f27f325b 100644
--- a/bin/lib/check_reqs.js
+++ b/bin/lib/check_reqs.js
@@ -142,22 +142,20 @@ module.exports.check_java = function() {
             }
         }
     }).then(function() {
-        var msg =
-            'Failed to run "java -version", make sure that you have a JDK installed.\n' +
-            'You can get it from: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads.\n';
-        if (process.env['JAVA_HOME']) {
-            msg += 'Your JAVA_HOME is invalid: ' + process.env['JAVA_HOME'] + '\n';
-        }
-        return tryCommand('java -version', msg)
-        .then(function() {
+            var msg =
+                'Failed to run "javac -version", make sure that you have a JDK installed.\n' +
+                'You can get it from: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads.\n';
+            if (process.env['JAVA_HOME']) {
+                msg += 'Your JAVA_HOME is invalid: ' + process.env['JAVA_HOME'] + '\n';
+            }
             // We use tryCommand with catchStderr = true, because
             // javac writes version info to stderr instead of stdout
-            return tryCommand('javac -version', msg, true);
-        }).then(function (output) {
-            var match = /javac ((?:\d+\.)+(?:\d+))/i.exec(output)[1];
-            return match && match[1];
+            return tryCommand('javac -version', msg, true)
+                .then(function (output) {
+                    var match = /javac ((?:\d+\.)+(?:\d+))/i.exec(output);
+                    return match && match[1];
+                });
         });
-    });
 };
 
 // Returns a promise.
@@ -238,13 +236,13 @@ module.exports.getAbsoluteAndroidCmd = function () {
     return cmd.replace(/(\s)/g, '\\$1');
 };
 
-module.exports.check_android_target = function(valid_target) {
+module.exports.check_android_target = function(originalError) {
     // valid_target can look like:
     //   android-19
     //   android-L
     //   Google Inc.:Google APIs:20
     //   Google Inc.:Glass Development Kit Preview:20
-    if (!valid_target) valid_target = module.exports.get_target();
+    var valid_target = module.exports.get_target();
     var msg = 'Android SDK not found. Make sure that it is installed. If it is not at the default location, set the ANDROID_HOME environment variable.';
     return tryCommand('android list targets --compact', msg)
     .then(function(output) {
@@ -254,18 +252,22 @@ module.exports.check_android_target = function(valid_target) {
         }
 
         var androidCmd = module.exports.getAbsoluteAndroidCmd();
-        throw new CordovaError('Please install Android target: "' + valid_target + '".\n\n' +
+        var msg = 'Please install Android target: "' + valid_target + '".\n\n' +
             'Hint: Open the SDK manager by running: ' + androidCmd + '\n' +
             'You will require:\n' +
             '1. "SDK Platform" for ' + valid_target + '\n' +
             '2. "Android SDK Platform-tools (latest)\n' +
-            '3. "Android SDK Build-tools" (latest)');
+            '3. "Android SDK Build-tools" (latest)';
+        if (originalError) {
+            msg = originalError + '\n' + msg;
+        }
+        throw new CordovaError(msg);
     });
 };
 
 // Returns a promise.
 module.exports.run = function() {
-    return Q.all([this.check_java(), this.check_android().then(this.check_android_target)])
+    return Q.all([this.check_java(), this.check_android()])
     .then(function() {
         console.log('ANDROID_HOME=' + process.env['ANDROID_HOME']);
         console.log('JAVA_HOME=' + process.env['JAVA_HOME']);
diff --git a/bin/templates/cordova/lib/builders/AntBuilder.js b/bin/templates/cordova/lib/builders/AntBuilder.js
index 7094fe51..5b2b1040 100644
--- a/bin/templates/cordova/lib/builders/AntBuilder.js
+++ b/bin/templates/cordova/lib/builders/AntBuilder.js
@@ -107,7 +107,22 @@ AntBuilder.prototype.build = function(opts) {
     var args = this.getArgs(opts.buildType == 'debug' ? 'debug' : 'release', opts);
     return check_reqs.check_ant()
     .then(function() {
-        return spawn('ant', args, {stdio: 'inherit'});
+        return spawn('ant', args, {stdio: 'pipe'});
+    }).progress(function (stdio){
+        if (stdio.stderr) {
+            process.stderr.write(stdio.stderr);
+        } else {
+            process.stdout.write(stdio.stdout);
+        }
+    }).catch(function (error) {
+        if (error.toString().indexOf('Unable to resolve project target') >= 0) {
+            return check_reqs.check_android_target(error).then(function() {
+                // If due to some odd reason - check_android_target succeeds
+                // we should still fail here.
+                return Q.reject(error);
+            });
+        }
+        return Q.reject(error);
     });
 };
 
diff --git a/bin/templates/cordova/lib/builders/GradleBuilder.js b/bin/templates/cordova/lib/builders/GradleBuilder.js
index 0f836598..325ea559 100644
--- a/bin/templates/cordova/lib/builders/GradleBuilder.js
+++ b/bin/templates/cordova/lib/builders/GradleBuilder.js
@@ -203,6 +203,15 @@ GradleBuilder.prototype.build = function(opts) {
         } else {
             process.stdout.write(stdio.stdout);
         }
+    }).catch(function (error) {
+        if (error.toString().indexOf('failed to find target with hash string') >= 0) {
+            return check_reqs.check_android_target(error).then(function() {
+                // If due to some odd reason - check_android_target succeeds
+                // we should still fail here.
+                return Q.reject(error);
+            });
+        }
+        return Q.reject(error);
     });
 };