diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 26d84f74..574cf702 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ Features
 Bug Fixes
 
 - Prevent `remainder` from crashing the runtime due to divide by zero.
+- Avoid printing an unnecessary colon after certain error messages.
 
 ## 0.5.4 - August 3, 2017
 
diff --git a/runtime.c b/runtime.c
index f3a81dda..730041b8 100644
--- a/runtime.c
+++ b/runtime.c
@@ -5745,7 +5745,7 @@ void _read_line_comment(port_type *p)
     }
     if (p->mem_buf[p->buf_idx++] == '\n') {
       p->line_num++; // Ignore col_num since we are just skipping over chars
-      p->col_num = 0;
+      p->col_num = 1;
       break;
     }
   }
@@ -5780,7 +5780,7 @@ void _read_multiline_comment(port_type *p)
 
     if (p->mem_buf[p->buf_idx] == '\n') {
       p->line_num++;
-      p->col_num = 0;
+      p->col_num = 1;
     } else {
       p->col_num++;
     }
@@ -5804,7 +5804,7 @@ void _read_whitespace(port_type *p)
     if (p->mem_buf[p->buf_idx] == '\n') {
       p->buf_idx++;
       p->line_num++; // Ignore col_num since we are just skipping over chars
-      p->col_num = 0;
+      p->col_num = 1;
       break;
     } else if (isspace(p->mem_buf[p->buf_idx])) {
       p->buf_idx++;
@@ -5921,7 +5921,7 @@ void _read_string(void *data, object cont, port_type *p)
       escaped = 1;
     } else if (c == '\n') {
       p->line_num++;
-      p->col_num = 0;
+      p->col_num = 1;
       _read_add_to_tok_buf(p, c);
     } else {
       _read_add_to_tok_buf(p, c);
@@ -5956,7 +5956,7 @@ void _read_literal_identifier(void *data, port_type *p)
       }
     } else if (c == '\n') {
       p->line_num++;
-      p->col_num = 0;
+      p->col_num = 1;
       _read_add_to_tok_buf(p, c);
     } else {
       _read_add_to_tok_buf(p, c);
@@ -6194,7 +6194,7 @@ void Cyc_io_read_token(void *data, object cont, object port)
     } else if (c == '\n') {
       if (p->tok_end) _read_return_atom(data, cont, p);
       p->line_num++;
-      p->col_num = 0;
+      p->col_num = 1;
     } else if (isspace(c)) {
       if (p->tok_end) _read_return_atom(data, cont, p);
       _read_whitespace(p);
diff --git a/scheme/read.sld b/scheme/read.sld
index aed535f8..941264ec 100644
--- a/scheme/read.sld
+++ b/scheme/read.sld
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
                     (car args))))
       (let ((result (parse fp)))
         (if (Cyc-opaque? result)
-          (error "unexpected closing parenthesis")
+          (read-error fp "unexpected closing parenthesis")
           result)))))
 
 ;; read-all -> port -> [objects]
@@ -82,6 +82,17 @@
   "(void *data, int argc, closure _, object k, object port)"
   " Cyc_io_read_token(data, k, port);")
 
+(define-c read-error
+  "(void *data, int argc, closure _, object k, object port, object msg)"
+  " char buf[1024];
+    port_type *p;
+    Cyc_check_port(data, port);
+    Cyc_check_str(data, msg);
+    p = ((port_type *)port);
+    snprintf(buf, 1023, \"(line %d, column %d): %s\", 
+           p->line_num, p->col_num, string_str(msg));
+    Cyc_rt_raise_msg(data, buf);")
+
 (define-c Cyc-opaque-eq?
   "(void *data, int argc, closure _, object k, object opq, object obj)"
   " if (Cyc_is_opaque(opq) == boolean_f) 
@@ -104,7 +115,7 @@
                      (t (parse fp)))
             (cond
               ((eof-object? t)
-               (error "missing closing parenthesis"))
+               (read-error fp "missing closing parenthesis"))
               ((Cyc-opaque-eq? t #\))
                (if (and (> (length lis) 2)
                         (equal? (cadr lis) (string->symbol ".")))
@@ -135,7 +146,7 @@
                     (t (parse fp)))
            (cond
              ((eof-object? t)
-              (error "missing closing parenthesis"))
+              (read-error fp "missing closing parenthesis"))
              ((Cyc-opaque-eq? t #\))
               (list->vector (reverse lis)))
              (else
@@ -145,7 +156,7 @@
                   (t (parse fp)))
          (cond
            ((eof-object? t)
-            (error "missing closing parenthesis"))
+            (read-error fp "missing closing parenthesis"))
            ((Cyc-opaque-eq? t #\))
             (apply bytevector (reverse lis)))
            (else