diff --git a/crates/compiler/test_gen/src/helpers/wasm.rs b/crates/compiler/test_gen/src/helpers/wasm.rs
index 09e5cb1b5ea..ae3a71a70d0 100644
--- a/crates/compiler/test_gen/src/helpers/wasm.rs
+++ b/crates/compiler/test_gen/src/helpers/wasm.rs
@@ -202,12 +202,12 @@ impl<'a> ImportDispatcher for TestDispatcher<'a> {
             self.wasi.dispatch(function_name, arguments, memory)
         } else if module_name == "env" && function_name == "send_panic_msg_to_rust" {
             let msg_ptr = arguments[0].expect_i32().unwrap();
-            let tag = arguments[1].expect_i32().unwrap();
+            let panic_tag = arguments[1].expect_i32().unwrap();
             let roc_msg = RocStr::decode(memory, msg_ptr as _);
-            let msg = match tag {
-                0 => format!(r#"Roc failed with message: "{}""#, roc_msg),
-                1 => format!(r#"User crash with message: "{}""#, roc_msg),
-                tag => format!(r#"Got an invald panic tag: "{}""#, tag),
+            let msg = match panic_tag {
+                0 => format!(r#"Roc failed with message: "{roc_msg}""#),
+                1 => format!(r#"User crash with message: "{roc_msg}""#),
+                tag => format!(r#"Got an invald panic tag: "{panic_tag}""#),
             };
             panic!("{}", msg)
         } else {
diff --git a/crates/compiler/test_gen/src/helpers/wasm_test_platform.c b/crates/compiler/test_gen/src/helpers/wasm_test_platform.c
index ca27b4a4b9b..71f84352a55 100644
--- a/crates/compiler/test_gen/src/helpers/wasm_test_platform.c
+++ b/crates/compiler/test_gen/src/helpers/wasm_test_platform.c
@@ -124,11 +124,11 @@ void roc_dealloc(void *ptr, unsigned int alignment)
 
 //--------------------------
 
-extern void send_panic_msg_to_rust(void* msg, uint32_t tag_id);
+extern void send_panic_msg_to_rust(void* msg, uint32_t panic_tag);
 
-void roc_panic(void* msg, unsigned int tag_id)
+void roc_panic(void* msg, unsigned int panic_tag)
 {
-    send_panic_msg_to_rust(msg, tag_id);
+    send_panic_msg_to_rust(msg, panic_tag);
     exit(101);
 }
 
diff --git a/crates/repl_wasm/src/repl_platform.c b/crates/repl_wasm/src/repl_platform.c
index 320c156c902..9e55b6201f4 100644
--- a/crates/repl_wasm/src/repl_platform.c
+++ b/crates/repl_wasm/src/repl_platform.c
@@ -54,8 +54,11 @@ void roc_dealloc(void *ptr, unsigned int alignment)
 
 //--------------------------
 
-void roc_panic(void *ptr, unsigned int alignment)
+extern void send_panic_msg_to_js(void *ptr, unsigned int panic_tag);
+
+void roc_panic(void *ptr, unsigned int panic_tag)
 {
+    send_panic_msg_to_js(ptr, panic_tag);
 #if ENABLE_PRINTF
     char *msg = (char *)ptr;
     fprintf(stderr,
diff --git a/www/public/repl/repl.js b/www/public/repl/repl.js
index 7d454982098..c688e21833e 100644
--- a/www/public/repl/repl.js
+++ b/www/public/repl/repl.js
@@ -165,11 +165,51 @@ async function processInputQueue() {
 // Callbacks to JS from Rust
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+var ROC_PANIC_INFO = null;
+
+function send_panic_msg_to_js(rocstr_ptr, panic_tag) {
+    const { memory } = repl.app.exports;
+
+    const rocStrBytes = new Int8Array(memory.buffer, rocstr_ptr, 12);
+    const finalByte = rocStrBytes[11]
+
+    let stringBytes = "";
+    if (finalByte < 0) {
+        // small string
+
+        // bitwise ops on negative JS numbers are weird. This clears the bit that we
+        // use to indicate a small string. In rust it's `finalByte as u8 ^ 0b1000_0000`
+        const length = finalByte + 128;
+        stringBytes = new Uint8Array(memory.buffer, rocstr_ptr, length);
+    } else {
+        // big string
+        const rocStrWords = new Uint32Array(memory.buffer, rocstr_ptr, 3);
+        const [ptr, len, _cap] = rocStrWords;
+
+        const SEAMLESS_SLICE_BIT = 1 << 31;
+        const length = len & (~SEAMLESS_SLICE_BIT);
+
+        stringBytes = new Uint8Array(memory.buffer, ptr, length);
+    }
+
+    const decodedString = repl.textDecoder.decode(stringBytes);
+
+    ROC_PANIC_INFO = {
+        msg: decodedString,
+        panic_tag: panic_tag,
+    };
+}
+
 // Load Wasm code into the browser's virtual machine, so we can run it later.
 // This operation is async, so we call it before entering any code shared
 // with the command-line REPL, which is sync.
 async function js_create_app(wasm_module_bytes) {
-  const { instance } = await WebAssembly.instantiate(wasm_module_bytes);
+  const { instance } = await WebAssembly.instantiate(wasm_module_bytes, {
+    env: {
+        send_panic_msg_to_js: send_panic_msg_to_js,
+    }
+  });
+
   // Keep the instance alive so we can run it later from shared REPL code
   repl.app = instance;
 }
@@ -180,13 +220,41 @@ function js_run_app() {
 
   // Run the user code, and remember the result address
   // We'll pass it to Rust in the next callback
-  repl.result_addr = wrapper();
+  try {
+      repl.result_addr = wrapper();
+  } catch (e) {
+    // an exception could be that roc_panic was invoked,
+    // or some other crash (likely a compiler bug)
+    if (ROC_PANIC_INFO === null) {
+      throw e;
+    } else {
+      // when roc_panic set an error message, display it
+      const { msg, panic_tag } = ROC_PANIC_INFO;
+      ROC_PANIC_INFO = null;
+
+      console.error(format_roc_panic_message(msg, panic_tag));
+    }
+  }
 
   // Tell Rust how much space to reserve for its copy of the app's memory buffer.
   // We couldn't know that size until we actually ran the app.
   return memory.buffer.byteLength;
 }
 
+function format_roc_panic_message(msg, panic_tag) {
+  switch (panic_tag) {
+    case 0: {
+      return `Roc failed with message: "${msg}"`;
+    }
+    case 1: {
+      return `User crash with message: "${msg}"`;
+    }
+    default: {
+      return `Got an invalid panic tag: "${panic_tag}"`;
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 // After Rust has allocated space for the app's memory buffer,
 // we copy it, and return the result address too
 function js_get_result_and_memory(buffer_alloc_addr) {