diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index b9f0c810..186a9b5c 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ module github.com/wader/fq
 go 1.18
 
 // fork of github.com/itchyny/gojq, see github.com/wader/gojq fq branch
-require github.com/wader/gojq v0.12.1-0.20240118170525-e920352821d6
+require github.com/wader/gojq v0.12.1-0.20240324083939-2b4dc721594a
 
 require (
 	// bump: gomod-BurntSushi/toml /github\.com\/BurntSushi\/toml v(.*)/ https://github.com/BurntSushi/toml.git|^1
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index ac93e029..2b71e88c 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ github.com/mitchellh/reflectwalk v1.0.2 h1:G2LzWKi524PWgd3mLHV8Y5k7s6XUvT0Gef6zx
 github.com/mitchellh/reflectwalk v1.0.2/go.mod h1:mSTlrgnPZtwu0c4WaC2kGObEpuNDbx0jmZXqmk4esnw=
 github.com/niemeyer/pretty v0.0.0-20200227124842-a10e7caefd8e h1:fD57ERR4JtEqsWbfPhv4DMiApHyliiK5xCTNVSPiaAs=
 github.com/niemeyer/pretty v0.0.0-20200227124842-a10e7caefd8e/go.mod h1:zD1mROLANZcx1PVRCS0qkT7pwLkGfwJo4zjcN/Tysno=
-github.com/wader/gojq v0.12.1-0.20240118170525-e920352821d6 h1:0zhn+HFzBP6i4XjyR+OMKauJ9zOZROpJCW9D75Z0fRE=
-github.com/wader/gojq v0.12.1-0.20240118170525-e920352821d6/go.mod h1:E7walEZ03d5WBrEMutC7+tagVBDdtNTDe0jRxMCC6N0=
+github.com/wader/gojq v0.12.1-0.20240324083939-2b4dc721594a h1:8SdZghxMYax232ktkzCOqtjnIQ9hO7sP7AXJipAZh8o=
+github.com/wader/gojq v0.12.1-0.20240324083939-2b4dc721594a/go.mod h1:gPc2V6SapmFtdvALwJRg9WKk97piqkagc6vW6PoPqM4=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.21.0 h1:X31++rzVUdKhX5sWmSOFZxx8UW/ldWx55cbf08iNAMA=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.21.0/go.mod h1:0BP7YvVV9gBbVKyeTG0Gyn+gZm94bibOW5BjDEYAOMs=
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20231110203233-9a3e6036ecaa h1:FRnLl4eNAQl8hwxVVC17teOw8kdjVDVAiFMtgUdTSRQ=
diff --git a/pkg/interp/init.jq b/pkg/interp/init.jq
index b4a63129..d8387074 100644
--- a/pkg/interp/init.jq
+++ b/pkg/interp/init.jq
@@ -123,13 +123,13 @@ def _cli_eval_on_expr_error:
 # other expr error, other errors then cancel should not happen, report and halt
 def _cli_eval_on_error:
   if .error | _is_context_canceled_error then (null | halt_error(_exit_code_expr_error))
-  else halt_error(_exit_code_expr_error)
+  else _fatal_error(_exit_code_expr_error)
   end;
 # could not compile expr, report and halt
 def _cli_eval_on_compile_error:
   ( .error
   | _eval_compile_error_tostring
-  | halt_error(_exit_code_compile_error)
+  | _fatal_error(_exit_code_compile_error)
   );
 def _cli_repl_error($_):
   _eval_error("compile"; "repl can only be used from interactive repl");
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ def _main:
         try (open | decode)
         catch
           ( "--argdecode \($a[0]): \(.)"
-          | halt_error(_exit_code_args_error)
+          | _fatal_error(_exit_code_args_error)
           )
       )
     );
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ def _main:
   # make sure we don't unintentionally use . to make things clearer
   | null
   | ( try _args_parse($args[1:]; _opt_cli_opts)
-      catch halt_error(_exit_code_args_error)
+      catch _fatal_error(_exit_code_args_error)
     ) as {parsed: $parsed_args, $rest}
   # combine default fixed opt, parsed args and -o key=value opts
   | _options_stack([
diff --git a/pkg/interp/internal.jq b/pkg/interp/internal.jq
index fba25bd5..48435959 100644
--- a/pkg/interp/internal.jq
+++ b/pkg/interp/internal.jq
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ def stderr:
   , .
   );
 
+def _fatal_error($code): "error: \(.)\n" | halt_error($code);
+
 # try to be same exit codes as jq
 # TODO: jq seems to halt processing inputs on JSON decode error but not IO errors,
 # seems strange.
diff --git a/pkg/interp/interp.go b/pkg/interp/interp.go
index bbca4b4c..490b855b 100644
--- a/pkg/interp/interp.go
+++ b/pkg/interp/interp.go
@@ -115,11 +115,6 @@ type Exiter interface {
 	ExitCode() int
 }
 
-// gojq halt_error uses this
-type IsEmptyErrorer interface {
-	IsEmptyError() bool
-}
-
 type Terminal interface {
 	Size() (int, int)
 	IsTerminal() bool
@@ -403,8 +398,25 @@ func (i *Interp) Main(ctx context.Context, output Output, versionStr string) err
 
 		switch v := v.(type) {
 		case error:
-			if emptyErr, ok := v.(IsEmptyErrorer); ok && emptyErr.IsEmptyError() {
-				// no output
+			var haltErr gojq.HaltError
+			if errors.As(v, &haltErr) {
+				if haltErrV := haltErr.Value(); haltErrV != nil {
+					if str, ok := haltErrV.(string); ok {
+						if _, err := i.OS.Stderr().Write([]byte(str)); err != nil {
+							return err
+						}
+					} else {
+						bs, _ := gojq.Marshal(haltErrV)
+						if _, err := i.OS.Stderr().Write(bs); err != nil {
+							return err
+						}
+						if _, err := i.OS.Stderr().Write([]byte{'\n'}); err != nil {
+							return err
+						}
+					}
+				}
+
+				return haltErr
 			} else if errors.Is(v, context.Canceled) {
 				// ignore context cancel here for now, which means user somehow interrupted the interpreter
 				// TODO: handle this inside interp.jq instead but then we probably have to do nested
@@ -413,8 +425,6 @@ func (i *Interp) Main(ctx context.Context, output Output, versionStr string) err
 				fmt.Fprintln(i.OS.Stderr(), v)
 			}
 			return v
-		case [2]any:
-			fmt.Fprintln(i.OS.Stderr(), v[:]...)
 		default:
 			// TODO: can this happen?
 			fmt.Fprintln(i.OS.Stderr(), v)
diff --git a/pkg/interp/options.jq b/pkg/interp/options.jq
index 08736831..4f2d562e 100644
--- a/pkg/interp/options.jq
+++ b/pkg/interp/options.jq
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ def _opt_eval($rest):
               )
             catch
               ( "-o \($opt)=@\($v[1:]): \(.)"
-              | halt_error(_exit_code_args_error)
+              | _fatal_error(_exit_code_args_error)
               )
           )
       )
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ def _opt_eval($rest):
                 try fromjson
                 catch
                   ( "--argjson \($a[0]): \(.)"
-                  | halt_error(_exit_code_args_error)
+                  | _fatal_error(_exit_code_args_error)
                   )
               )
             )
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ def _opt_eval($rest):
         | . as $expr_file
         | if . then
             try (open | tobytes | tostring)
-            catch ("\($expr_file): \(.)" | halt_error(_exit_code_args_error))
+            catch ("\($expr_file): \(.)" | _fatal_error(_exit_code_args_error))
           else $rest[0] // null
           end
         )
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ def _opt_eval($rest):
             ( map(.[1] |=
                 ( . as $f
                 | try (open | tobytes | tostring)
-                  catch ("\($f): \(.)" | halt_error(_exit_code_args_error))
+                  catch ("\($f): \(.)" | _fatal_error(_exit_code_args_error))
                 )
               )
             )
diff --git a/pkg/interp/repl.jq b/pkg/interp/repl.jq
index 507bbad0..df3a6015 100644
--- a/pkg/interp/repl.jq
+++ b/pkg/interp/repl.jq
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ def _repl_on_expr_error:
 def _repl_on_error:
   # was interrupted by user, just ignore
   if .error | _is_context_canceled_error then empty
-  else halt_error(_exit_code_expr_error)
+  else _fatal_error(_exit_code_expr_error)
   end;
 # compile error
 def _repl_on_compile_error:
diff --git a/pkg/interp/testdata/exitcode.fqtest b/pkg/interp/testdata/exitcode.fqtest
index 90f421b4..17c3affa 100644
--- a/pkg/interp/testdata/exitcode.fqtest
+++ b/pkg/interp/testdata/exitcode.fqtest
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@ $ fq -n '1+"a"'
 exitcode: 5
 stderr:
 error: cannot add: number (1) and string ("a")
-$ fq -n '"abc" | halt_error(123)'
+$ fq -n '"abc\n" | halt_error(123)'
 exitcode: 123
 stderr:
-error: abc
+abc
 $ fq -n 'null | halt_error(123)'
 exitcode: 123
 $ fq -n invalid