diff --git a/dev/tools/bin/format.dart b/dev/tools/bin/format.dart
index dc5a978a27d..d5f7b997ab8 100644
--- a/dev/tools/bin/format.dart
+++ b/dev/tools/bin/format.dart
@@ -160,11 +160,15 @@ class DartFormatChecker {
     );
 
     Iterable<WorkerJob> incorrect;
+    final List<WorkerJob> errorJobs = <WorkerJob>[];
     if (!fix) {
       final Stream<WorkerJob> completedJobs = dartFmt.startWorkers(jobs);
       final List<WorkerJob> diffJobs = <WorkerJob>[];
       await for (final WorkerJob completedJob in completedJobs) {
-        if (completedJob.result.exitCode == 1) {
+        if (completedJob.result.exitCode != 0 && completedJob.result.exitCode != 1) {
+          // The formatter had a problem formatting the file.
+          errorJobs.add(completedJob);
+        } else if (completedJob.result.exitCode == 1) {
           diffJobs.add(
             WorkerJob(
               <String>[
@@ -190,7 +194,15 @@ class DartFormatChecker {
       incorrect = completedDiffs.where((WorkerJob job) => job.result.exitCode != 0);
     } else {
       final List<WorkerJob> completedJobs = await dartFmt.runToCompletion(jobs);
-      incorrect = completedJobs.where((WorkerJob job) => job.result.exitCode == 1);
+      final List<WorkerJob> incorrectJobs = incorrect = <WorkerJob>[];
+      for (final WorkerJob job in completedJobs) {
+        if (job.result.exitCode != 0 && job.result.exitCode != 1) {
+          // The formatter had a problem formatting the file.
+          errorJobs.add(job);
+        } else if (job.result.exitCode == 1) {
+          incorrectJobs.add(job);
+        }
+      }
     }
 
     _clearOutput();
@@ -220,10 +232,26 @@ class DartFormatChecker {
         stdout.writeln('DONE');
         stdout.writeln();
       }
+      _printErrorJobs(errorJobs);
+    } else if (errorJobs.isNotEmpty) {
+      _printErrorJobs(errorJobs);
     } else {
       stdout.writeln('All dart files formatted correctly.');
     }
-    return incorrect.length;
+    return fix ? errorJobs.length : (incorrect.length + errorJobs.length);
+  }
+
+  void _printErrorJobs(List<WorkerJob> errorJobs) {
+    if (errorJobs.isNotEmpty) {
+      final bool plural = errorJobs.length > 1;
+      stderr.writeln('The formatter failed to run on ${errorJobs.length} Dart file${plural ? 's' : ''}.');
+      stdout.writeln();
+      for (final WorkerJob job in errorJobs) {
+        stdout.writeln('--> ${job.command.last} produced the following error:');
+        stdout.write(job.result.stderr);
+        stdout.writeln();
+      }
+    }
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/dev/tools/test/format_test.dart b/dev/tools/test/format_test.dart
index 0ca7f5232e4..480b233d828 100644
--- a/dev/tools/test/format_test.dart
+++ b/dev/tools/test/format_test.dart
@@ -91,4 +91,22 @@ void main() {
       fixture.gitRemove();
     }
   });
+
+  test('Prints error if dart formatter fails', () {
+    final TestFileFixture fixture = TestFileFixture(<FileContentPair>[], flutterRoot);
+    final io.File dartFile = io.File('${flutterRoot.path}/format_test2.dart');
+    dartFile.writeAsStringSync('P\n');
+    fixture.files.add(dartFile);
+
+    try {
+      fixture.gitAdd();
+      final io.ProcessResult result = io.Process.runSync(formatterPath, <String>[
+        '--fix',
+      ], workingDirectory: flutterRoot.path);
+      expect(result.stdout, contains('format_test2.dart produced the following error'));
+      expect(result.exitCode, isNot(0));
+    } finally {
+      fixture.gitRemove();
+    }
+  });
 }