diff --git a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitBlameCommand.java b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitBlameCommand.java
index cbb5bb150a..e210a51d18 100644
--- a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitBlameCommand.java
+++ b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitBlameCommand.java
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ package sonia.scm.repository.spi;
 
 //~--- non-JDK imports --------------------------------------------------------
 
+import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
+import com.google.common.base.Strings;
+
 import org.eclipse.jgit.api.Git;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.PersonIdent;
@@ -46,7 +49,7 @@ import sonia.scm.repository.BlameResult;
 import sonia.scm.repository.GitUtil;
 import sonia.scm.repository.Person;
 import sonia.scm.repository.Repository;
-import sonia.scm.util.AssertUtil;
+import sonia.scm.repository.RepositoryException;
 
 //~--- JDK imports ------------------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -92,23 +95,31 @@ public class GitBlameCommand extends AbstractGitCommand implements BlameCommand
    * @param request
    *
    * @return
+   *
+   * @throws IOException
+   * @throws RepositoryException
    */
   @Override
   public BlameResult getBlameResult(BlameCommandRequest request)
+          throws IOException, RepositoryException
   {
-    AssertUtil.assertIsNotEmpty(request.getPath());
+    if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+    {
+      logger.debug("try to create blame for {}", request);
+    }
+
+    Preconditions.checkArgument(!Strings.isNullOrEmpty(request.getPath()),
+                                "path is empty or null");
 
     org.eclipse.jgit.blame.BlameResult gitBlameResult = null;
     sonia.scm.repository.BlameResult blameResult = null;
     org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository gr = null;
-    Git git = null;
 
     try
     {
       gr = open();
-      git = new Git(gr);
 
-      org.eclipse.jgit.api.BlameCommand blame = git.blame();
+      org.eclipse.jgit.api.BlameCommand blame = new Git(gr).blame();
 
       blame.setFilePath(request.getPath());
 
@@ -116,7 +127,13 @@ public class GitBlameCommand extends AbstractGitCommand implements BlameCommand
 
       blame.setStartCommit(revId);
       gitBlameResult = blame.call();
-      AssertUtil.assertIsNotNull(gitBlameResult);
+
+      if (gitBlameResult == null)
+      {
+        throw new RepositoryException(
+            "could not create blame result for path ".concat(
+              request.getPath()));
+      }
 
       List<BlameLine> blameLines = new ArrayList<BlameLine>();
       int total = gitBlameResult.getResultContents().size();
@@ -153,9 +170,9 @@ public class GitBlameCommand extends AbstractGitCommand implements BlameCommand
 
       blameResult = new sonia.scm.repository.BlameResult(i, blameLines);
     }
-    catch (IOException ex)
+    finally
     {
-      logger.error("could not open repository", ex);
+      GitUtil.close(gr);
     }
 
     return blameResult;
diff --git a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitBrowseCommand.java b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitBrowseCommand.java
index d127c3d5cb..0663eb6067 100644
--- a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitBrowseCommand.java
+++ b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitBrowseCommand.java
@@ -111,8 +111,11 @@ public class GitBrowseCommand extends AbstractGitCommand
    * @return
    */
   @Override
-  public BrowserResult getBrowserResult(BrowseCommandRequest request)
+  public BrowserResult getBrowserResult(BrowseCommandRequest request) throws IOException, RepositoryException
   {
+    if ( logger.isDebugEnabled() ){
+      logger.debug("try to create browse result for {}", request);
+    }
     BrowserResult result = null;
     org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository repo = null;
 
@@ -150,10 +153,6 @@ public class GitBrowseCommand extends AbstractGitCommand
                                    new ArrayList<FileObject>());
       }
     }
-    catch (Exception ex)
-    {
-      logger.error("could not fetch browser result", ex);
-    }
     finally
     {
       GitUtil.close(repo);
diff --git a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitCatCommand.java b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitCatCommand.java
index f8fd7c4777..d4028f9d79 100644
--- a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitCatCommand.java
+++ b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitCatCommand.java
@@ -92,10 +92,19 @@ public class GitCatCommand extends AbstractGitCommand implements CatCommand
    *
    * @param request
    * @param output
+   *
+   * @throws IOException
+   * @throws RepositoryException
    */
   @Override
   public void getCatResult(CatCommandRequest request, OutputStream output)
+          throws IOException, RepositoryException
   {
+    if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
+    {
+      logger.debug("try to read content for {}", request);
+    }
+
     org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository repo = null;
 
     try
@@ -106,11 +115,6 @@ public class GitCatCommand extends AbstractGitCommand implements CatCommand
 
       getContent(repo, revId, request.getPath(), output);
     }
-    catch (Exception ex)
-    {
-      //TODO throw
-      logger.error("could not fetch content", ex);
-    }
     finally
     {
       GitUtil.close(repo);
@@ -132,7 +136,7 @@ public class GitCatCommand extends AbstractGitCommand implements CatCommand
    * @throws RepositoryException
    */
   void getContent(org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository repo, ObjectId revId,
-                         String path, OutputStream output)
+                  String path, OutputStream output)
           throws IOException, RepositoryException
   {
     TreeWalk treeWalk = null;
diff --git a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitDiffCommand.java b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitDiffCommand.java
index 170db0a68e..27e5dc4183 100644
--- a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitDiffCommand.java
+++ b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitDiffCommand.java
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ public class GitDiffCommand extends AbstractGitCommand implements DiffCommand
     }
     catch (Exception ex)
     {
+      // TODO throw exception
       logger.error("could not create diff", ex);
     }
     finally
diff --git a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitLogCommand.java b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitLogCommand.java
index 1fa98e23b2..51d4748b6e 100644
--- a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitLogCommand.java
+++ b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitLogCommand.java
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ import sonia.scm.util.IOUtil;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
+import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 
 /**
@@ -150,9 +151,12 @@ public class GitLogCommand extends AbstractGitCommand implements LogCommand
    * @param request
    *
    * @return
+   *
+   * @throws IOException
    */
   @Override
   public ChangesetPagingResult getChangesets(LogCommandRequest request)
+          throws IOException
   {
     if (logger.isDebugEnabled())
     {
@@ -242,11 +246,16 @@ public class GitLogCommand extends AbstractGitCommand implements LogCommand
     }
     catch (NoHeadException ex)
     {
-      logger.error("could not read changesets", ex);
-    }
-    catch (IOException ex)
-    {
-      logger.error("could not open repository", ex);
+      if (logger.isTraceEnabled())
+      {
+        logger.trace("repository seems to be empty", ex);
+      }
+      else if (logger.isWarnEnabled())
+      {
+        logger.warn("repository seems to be empty");
+      }
+
+      changesets = new ChangesetPagingResult(0, new ArrayList<Changeset>());
     }
     finally
     {