diff --git a/runtime.c b/runtime.c
index f556465c..54669541 100644
--- a/runtime.c
+++ b/runtime.c
@@ -167,6 +167,8 @@ object Cyc_exception_handler_stack = nil;
 
 object Cyc_default_exception_handler(int argc, closure _, object err) {
     printf("Error: ");
+    // TODO: error should be a list of form (type arg1 ... argn)
+    // want to ignore type and display args without enclosing parens
     Cyc_display_va(1, err);
     printf("\n");
     exit(1);
@@ -185,14 +187,14 @@ object Cyc_current_exception_handler() {
 void Cyc_rt_raise(object err) {
     make_cons(c2, err, nil);
     make_cons(c1, boolean_f, &c2);
-    make_cons(c0, &c1, nil); // TODO: seems broken?
+    make_cons(c0, &c1, nil);
     apply(nil, Cyc_current_exception_handler(), &c0);
     // Should never get here
     fprintf(stderr, "Internal error in Cyc_rt_raise\n");
     exit(1);
 }
 void Cyc_rt_raise2(const char *msg, object err) {
-    make_string(s, err);
+    make_string(s, msg);
     make_cons(c3, err, nil);
     make_cons(c2, &s, &c3);
     make_cons(c1, boolean_f, &c2);
diff --git a/scheme/base.sld b/scheme/base.sld
index c3266854..a551968f 100644
--- a/scheme/base.sld
+++ b/scheme/base.sld
@@ -294,9 +294,11 @@
     (define (error msg . args)
       (raise (cons msg args)))
     (define (raise obj)
-      ((Cyc-current-exception-handler) (list 'raised obj)))
+      ((Cyc-current-exception-handler) 
+        (cons 'raised (if (pair? obj) obj (list obj)))))
     (define (raise-continuable obj)
-      ((Cyc-current-exception-handler) (list 'continuable obj)))
+      ((Cyc-current-exception-handler) 
+        (cons 'continuable (if (pair? obj) obj (list obj)))))
     (define (with-exception-handler handler thunk)
       (let ((result #f)
             (my-handler 
@@ -306,7 +308,7 @@
                                          (equal? (car obj) 'continuable))))
                   ;; Unregister this handler since it is no longer needed
                   (Cyc-remove-exception-handler)
-                  (set! result (handler (cadr obj))) ;; Actual handler
+                  (set! result (handler (cdr obj))) ;; Actual handler
                   (if continuable?
                       result
                       (error "exception handler returned"))))))