diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jruby/ext/openssl/PKey.java b/src/main/java/org/jruby/ext/openssl/PKey.java
index 5191dac4..02511a58 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jruby/ext/openssl/PKey.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jruby/ext/openssl/PKey.java
@@ -141,13 +141,13 @@ public static IRubyObject read(final ThreadContext context, IRubyObject recv, IR
             PublicKey pubKey = null;
             try {
                 pubKey = PEMInputOutput.readRSAPublicKey(new StringReader(str.toString()), null);
-                return new PKeyRSA(runtime, (RSAPublicKey) pubKey);
+                if (pubKey != null) return new PKeyRSA(runtime, (RSAPublicKey) pubKey);
             } catch (IOException e) {
                 debugStackTrace(runtime, "PKey readRSAPublicKey", e); /* ignore */
             }
             try {
                 pubKey = PEMInputOutput.readDSAPublicKey(new StringReader(str.toString()), null);
-                return new PKeyDSA(runtime, (DSAPublicKey) pubKey);
+                if (pubKey != null) return new PKeyDSA(runtime, (DSAPublicKey) pubKey);
             } catch (IOException e) {
                 debugStackTrace(runtime, "PKey readDSAPublicKey", e); /* ignore */
             }
@@ -163,7 +163,9 @@ public static IRubyObject read(final ThreadContext context, IRubyObject recv, IR
             if (pubKey == null) {
                 try {
                     pubKey = PEMInputOutput.readPubKey(new StringReader(str.toString()));
-                } catch (IOException e) { /* ignore */ }
+                } catch (IOException e) {
+                    debugStackTrace(runtime, "PKey readPubKey", e); /* ignore */
+                }
             }
 
             if (pubKey != null) {
@@ -178,7 +180,7 @@ public static IRubyObject read(final ThreadContext context, IRubyObject recv, IR
                 }
             }
 
-            throw runtime.newArgumentError("Could not parse PKey");
+            throw newPKeyError(runtime, "Could not parse PKey: unsupported");
         }
 
         private static String getAlgorithm(final KeyPair key) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jruby/ext/openssl/impl/PKey.java b/src/main/java/org/jruby/ext/openssl/impl/PKey.java
index 686b1f27..847cbedc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jruby/ext/openssl/impl/PKey.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jruby/ext/openssl/impl/PKey.java
@@ -132,24 +132,15 @@ public static KeyPair readPrivateKey(final Type type, final PrivateKeyInfo keyIn
     }
 
     // d2i_PUBKEY_bio
-    public static PublicKey readPublicKey(byte[] input) throws IOException,
-        NoSuchAlgorithmException, InvalidKeySpecException {
+    public static PublicKey readPublicKey(byte[] input) throws IOException, NoSuchAlgorithmException {
         PublicKey key = null;
         try {
             key = readRSAPublicKey(input);
-        }
-        catch (NoSuchAlgorithmException e) { throw e; /* should not happen */ }
-        catch (InvalidKeySpecException e) {
-            // ignore
-        }
+        } catch (InvalidKeySpecException e) { /* ignore */ }
         if (key == null) {
             try {
                 key = readDSAPublicKey(input);
-            }
-            catch (NoSuchAlgorithmException e) { throw e; /* should not happen */ }
-            catch (InvalidKeySpecException e) {
-                // ignore
-            }
+            } catch (InvalidKeySpecException e) { /* ignore */ }
         }
         return key;
     }
diff --git a/src/test/ruby/test_pkey.rb b/src/test/ruby/test_pkey.rb
index 5bcf50c3..076d9f15 100644
--- a/src/test/ruby/test_pkey.rb
+++ b/src/test/ruby/test_pkey.rb
@@ -28,6 +28,22 @@ def test_pkey_read_pkcs8_and_check_with_cert
     assert_true cert.check_private_key(pkey)
   end
 
+  def test_pkey_pem_file_error
+    begin
+      ret = OpenSSL::PKey.read('not a PEM file')
+      fail "expected OpenSSL::PKey.read to raise (got: #{ret.inspect})"
+    rescue OpenSSL::PKey::PKeyError => e
+      assert_equal 'Could not parse PKey: unsupported', e.message
+    end
+
+    begin
+      ret = OpenSSL::PKey::RSA.new('not a PEM file')
+      fail "expected OpenSSL::PKey::RSA.new to raise (got: #{ret.inspect})"
+    rescue OpenSSL::PKey::RSAError
+      assert true
+    end
+  end
+
   def test_to_java
     pkey = OpenSSL::PKey.read(KEY)
     assert_kind_of java.security.PublicKey, pkey.to_java