1 file changed, 17 insertions, 9 deletions
diff --git a/source/filter.c b/source/filter.c
index b36f03e..43ba70a 100644
--- a/source/filter.c
+++ b/source/filter.c
@@ -191,12 +191,20 @@ static inline void unhook_write(void)
 
 static NORETURN void die_lua_error(struct lua_filter *filter)
 {
+	lua_State *lua_state = filter->lua_state;
+	const char *message = lua_tostring(lua_state, -1);
+
+	// A script may raise any value, and only a string or a number has text
+	// of its own, so anything else is named by its type, as lua.c does.
+	if (!message)
+		message = lua_pushfstring(lua_state, "(error object is a %s value)",
+			luaL_typename(lua_state, -1));
 	// The error page goes out through stdout, which may still be hooked
 	// to the very filter that failed, so the hook comes off first or the
 	// page would be fed back into the broken filter.
 	if (filter_write)
 		unhook_write();
-	die("Lua error in %s: %s", filter->script_file, lua_tostring(filter->lua_state, -1));
+	die("Lua error in %s: %s", filter->script_file, message);
 }
 
 static ssize_t write_lua_filter(struct cgit_filter *base, const void *buf, size_t count)
@@ -294,15 +302,18 @@ static const struct {
 	{ "html_include", script_html_include },
 };
 
-static int init_lua_filter(struct lua_filter *filter)
+static void init_lua_filter(struct lua_filter *filter)
 {
 	size_t i;
 
 	if (filter->lua_state)
-		return 0;
+		return;
 
-	if (!(filter->lua_state = luaL_newstate()))
-		return 1;
+	// A new state fails only when memory has run out, which cgit answers by
+	// dying wherever else it allocates.
+	filter->lua_state = luaL_newstate();
+	if (!filter->lua_state)
+		die("Unable to create a Lua state for %s", filter->script_file);
 
 	luaL_openlibs(filter->lua_state);
 
@@ -313,7 +324,6 @@ static int init_lua_filter(struct lua_filter *filter)
 
 	if (luaL_dofile(filter->lua_state, filter->script_file))
 		die_lua_error(filter);
-	return 0;
 }
 
 static int open_lua_filter(struct cgit_filter *base, va_list ap)
@@ -321,9 +331,7 @@ static int open_lua_filter(struct cgit_filter *base, va_list ap)
 	struct lua_filter *filter = (struct lua_filter *)base;
 	int i;
 
-	if (init_lua_filter(filter))
-		return 1;
-
+	init_lua_filter(filter);
 	hook_write(base, write_lua_filter);
 
 	lua_getglobal(filter->lua_state, "filter_open");