diff --git a/gradle/changelog/optimize_gpg_error_message.yaml b/gradle/changelog/optimize_gpg_error_message.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0f1d774098
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gradle/changelog/optimize_gpg_error_message.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+- type: fixed
+  description: Better error descriptions for gpg key import ([#1879](https://github.com/scm-manager/scm-manager/pull/1879))
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/security/gpg/Keys.java b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/security/gpg/Keys.java
index a03819b923..76d96c89ba 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/security/gpg/Keys.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/main/java/sonia/scm/security/gpg/Keys.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import org.bouncycastle.openpgp.PGPPublicKeyRingCollection;
 import org.bouncycastle.openpgp.PGPUtil;
 import org.bouncycastle.openpgp.operator.KeyFingerPrintCalculator;
 import org.bouncycastle.openpgp.operator.jcajce.JcaKeyFingerprintCalculator;
+import sonia.scm.ScmConstraintViolationException;
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -46,6 +47,8 @@ import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 
+import static sonia.scm.ScmConstraintViolationException.Builder.doThrow;
+
 @Value
 final class Keys {
 
@@ -71,18 +74,18 @@ final class Keys {
 
     for (PGPPublicKey key : parsedKeys) {
       if (key.isMasterKey()) {
-        if (master != null) {
-          throw new IllegalArgumentException("Found more than one master key");
-        }
+        doThrow()
+          .violation("Found more than one master key")
+          .when(master != null);
         master = createId(key);
       } else {
         subs.add(createId(key));
       }
     }
 
-    if (master == null) {
-      throw new IllegalArgumentException("No master key found");
-    }
+    doThrow()
+      .violation("No master key found")
+      .when(master == null);
 
     return new Keys(master, Collections.unmodifiableSet(subs));
   }
diff --git a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/security/gpg/KeysTest.java b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/security/gpg/KeysTest.java
index b78a0c5795..9463920576 100644
--- a/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/security/gpg/KeysTest.java
+++ b/scm-webapp/src/test/java/sonia/scm/security/gpg/KeysTest.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import org.bouncycastle.openpgp.PGPPublicKey;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtendWith;
 import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoExtension;
+import sonia.scm.ScmConstraintViolationException;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Collections;
@@ -63,12 +64,12 @@ class KeysTest {
     PGPPublicKey one = mockMasterKey(42L);
     PGPPublicKey two = mockMasterKey(21L);
 
-    assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> Keys.resolve("", raw -> ImmutableList.of(one, two)));
+    assertThrows(ScmConstraintViolationException.class, () -> Keys.resolve("", raw -> ImmutableList.of(one, two)));
   }
 
   @Test
   void shouldThrowIllegalArgumentExceptionWithoutMasterKey() {
-    assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> Keys.resolve("", raw -> Collections.emptyList()));
+    assertThrows(ScmConstraintViolationException.class, () -> Keys.resolve("", raw -> Collections.emptyList()));
   }
 
   private PGPPublicKey mockMasterKey(long id) {