diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/ast/NextflowDSLImpl.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/ast/NextflowDSLImpl.groovy
index 7396a5ab16..739c554f2d 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/ast/NextflowDSLImpl.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/ast/NextflowDSLImpl.groovy
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ class NextflowDSLImpl implements ASTTransformation {
                 }
             }
             // read the closure source
-            readSource(closure, source, unit, true)
+            readSource(closure, source, unit)
 
             final bodyClosure = closureX(null, block(scope, body))
             final invokeBody = makeScriptWrapper(bodyClosure, source.toString(), 'workflow', unit)
@@ -750,7 +750,29 @@ class NextflowDSLImpl implements ASTTransformation {
          * @param buffer
          * @param unit
          */
-        private void readSource( ASTNode node, StringBuilder buffer, SourceUnit unit, stripBrackets=false ) {
+        private void readSource( Statement node, StringBuilder buffer, SourceUnit unit ) {
+            final colx = node.getColumnNumber()
+            final colz = node.getLastColumnNumber()
+            final first = node.getLineNumber()
+            final last = node.getLastLineNumber()
+            for( int i = first; i <= last; i++ ) {
+                final line = unit.source.getLine(i, null)
+
+                // prepend first-line indent
+                if( i == first ) {
+                    int k = 0
+                    while( k < line.size() && line[k] == ' ' )
+                        k++
+                    buffer.append( line.substring(0, k) )
+                }
+
+                final begin = (i == first) ? colx - 1 : 0
+                final end = (i == last) ? colz - 1 : line.size()
+                buffer.append( line.substring(begin, end) ).append('\n')
+            }
+        }
+
+        private void readSource( ClosureExpression node, StringBuilder buffer, SourceUnit unit ) {
             final colx = node.getColumnNumber()
             final colz = node.getLastColumnNumber()
             final first = node.getLineNumber()
@@ -758,18 +780,12 @@ class NextflowDSLImpl implements ASTTransformation {
             for( int i=first; i<=last; i++ ) {
                 def line = unit.source.getLine(i, null)
                 if( i==last ) {
-                    line = line.substring(0,colz-1)
-                    if( stripBrackets ) {
-                        line = line.replaceFirst(/}.*$/,'')
-                        if( !line.trim() ) continue
-                    }
+                    line = line.substring(0,colz-1).replaceFirst(/}.*$/,'')
+                    if( !line.trim() ) continue
                 }
                 if( i==first ) {
-                    line = line.substring(colx-1)
-                    if( stripBrackets ) {
-                        line = line.replaceFirst(/^.*\{/,'').trim()
-                        if( !line.trim() ) continue
-                    }
+                    line = line.substring(colx-1).replaceFirst(/^.*\{/,'').trim()
+                    if( !line ) continue
                 }
                 buffer.append(line) .append('\n')
             }
diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/processor/TaskProcessor.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/processor/TaskProcessor.groovy
index 83a7707500..edc8ab6642 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/processor/TaskProcessor.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/processor/TaskProcessor.groovy
@@ -1335,9 +1335,10 @@ class TaskProcessor {
         else
             message = err0(error.cause)
 
+        message.eachLine { line ->
+            result << '  ' << line << '\n'
+        }
         result
-            .append('  ')
-            .append(message)
             .append('\n')
             .toString()
     }