diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 41f584c..674dd4c 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -95,6 +95,11 @@ pub fn load_image(image_base64: String) -> String {
     let mut state = STATE.lock().expect("Couldn't lock application state");
 
     let image_base64: Vec<&str> = image_base64.split("base64,").collect();
+
+    if image_base64.len() < 2 {
+        return format!("Error: Badly-formatted base64: {}", image_base64.join(""));
+    }
+
     let image_base64 = image_base64[1];
 
     match base64::decode(image_base64) {
@@ -109,13 +114,13 @@ pub fn load_image(image_base64: String) -> String {
                 },
                 _ => {
                     state.image = None;
-                    "Couldn't load image".to_string()
+                    "Error: Couldn't load image".to_string()
                 }
             }
         },
         _ => {
             state.image = None;
-            "Couldn't decode image".to_string()
+            "Error: Couldn't decode image".to_string()
         }
     }
 }