diff --git a/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/CabalApi.hs b/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/CabalApi.hs
index d990f1c..7a7bcac 100644
--- a/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/CabalApi.hs
+++ b/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/CabalApi.hs
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 
 module Language.Haskell.GhcMod.CabalApi (
     fromCabalFile
-  , cabalParseFile
+  , parseCabalFile
   , cabalAllDependPackages
   , cabalAllSourceDirs
+  , cabalAllBuildInfo
   , getGHCVersion
   ) where
 
@@ -13,7 +14,9 @@ import Control.Exception (throwIO)
 import Data.List (intercalate)
 import Data.Maybe (maybeToList)
 import Data.Set (fromList, toList)
-import Distribution.Package (Dependency(Dependency), PackageName(PackageName))
+import Distribution.Package (Dependency(Dependency)
+                           , PackageName(PackageName)
+                           , PackageIdentifier(pkgName))
 import Distribution.PackageDescription
 import Distribution.PackageDescription.Configuration (finalizePackageDescription)
 import Distribution.PackageDescription.Parse (readPackageDescription)
@@ -33,7 +36,7 @@ fromCabalFile :: [GHCOption]
               -> Cradle
               -> IO ([GHCOption],[IncludeDir],[Package])
 fromCabalFile ghcOptions cradle = do
-    cabal <- cabalParseFile cfile
+    cabal <- parseCabalFile cfile
     return $ cookInfo ghcOptions cradle cabal
   where
     Just cfile = cradleCabalFile cradle
@@ -46,7 +49,7 @@ cookInfo ghcOptions cradle cabal = (gopts,idirs,depPkgs)
     Just cdir  = cradleCabalDir   cradle
     Just cfile = cradleCabalFile  cradle
     buildInfos = cabalAllBuildInfo cabal
-    gopts      = getGHCOptions ghcOptions $ head buildInfos -- FIXME
+    gopts      = getGHCOptions ghcOptions $ head buildInfos
     idirs      = includeDirectories cdir wdir $ cabalAllSourceDirs buildInfos
     depPkgs    = removeMe cfile $ cabalAllDependPackages buildInfos
 
@@ -61,15 +64,20 @@ includeDirectories cdir wdir dirs = uniqueAndSort (map (cdir </>) dirs ++ [cdir,
 
 ----------------------------------------------------------------
 
-cabalParseFile :: FilePath -> IO PackageDescription
-cabalParseFile file = do
+parseCabalFile :: FilePath -> IO PackageDescription
+parseCabalFile file = do
     cid <- getGHCId
     epgd <- readPackageDescription silent file
     case toPkgDesc cid epgd of
-        Left _       -> throwIO $ userError "cabal file is broken"
-        Right (pd,_) -> return pd -- FIXME check empty
+        Left deps    -> throwIO $ userError $ show deps ++ " are not installed"
+        Right (pd,_) -> if nullPkg pd
+                        then throwIO $ userError $ file ++ " is broken"
+                        else return pd
   where
     toPkgDesc cid = finalizePackageDescription [] (const True) buildPlatform cid []
+    nullPkg pd = name == ""
+      where
+        PackageName name = pkgName (package pd)
 
 ----------------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/test/CabalApiSpec.hs b/test/CabalApiSpec.hs
index b3a2f7c..df6dde4 100644
--- a/test/CabalApiSpec.hs
+++ b/test/CabalApiSpec.hs
@@ -1,27 +1,29 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE ScopedTypeVariables #-}
+
 module CabalApiSpec where
 
 import Control.Applicative
+import Control.Exception
 import Language.Haskell.GhcMod.CabalApi
 import Test.Hspec
 
 spec :: Spec
 spec = do
+    describe "parseCabalFile" $ do
+        it "throws an exception if the cabal file is broken" $ do
+            parseCabalFile "test/data/broken-cabal/broken.cabal" `shouldThrow` (\(e::IOException) -> True)
+
     describe "cabalAllDependPackages" $ do
         it "extracts dependent packages" $ do
-            pkgs <- cabalAllDependPackages <$> cabalParseFile "test/data/cabalapi.cabal"
+            pkgs <- cabalAllDependPackages . cabalAllBuildInfo <$> parseCabalFile "test/data/cabalapi.cabal"
             pkgs `shouldBe` ["Cabal","base","template-haskell"]
 
     describe "cabalAllSourceDirs" $ do
         it "extracts all hs-source-dirs" $ do
-            dirs <- cabalAllSourceDirs <$> cabalParseFile "test/data/check-test-subdir/check-test-subdir.cabal"
+            dirs <- cabalAllSourceDirs . cabalAllBuildInfo <$> parseCabalFile "test/data/check-test-subdir/check-test-subdir.cabal"
             dirs `shouldBe` ["src", "test"]
 
     describe "cabalBuildInfo" $ do
         it "extracts build info" $ do
-            info <- cabalBuildInfo <$> cabalParseFile "test/data/cabalapi.cabal"
-            let infoStr = show info
-            infoStr `shouldBe` "Just (BuildInfo {buildable = True, buildTools = [], cppOptions = [], ccOptions = [], ldOptions = [], pkgconfigDepends = [], frameworks = [], cSources = [], hsSourceDirs = [], otherModules = [ModuleName [\"Browse\"],ModuleName [\"CabalApi\"],ModuleName [\"Cabal\"],ModuleName [\"CabalDev\"],ModuleName [\"Check\"],ModuleName [\"ErrMsg\"],ModuleName [\"Flag\"],ModuleName [\"GHCApi\"],ModuleName [\"GHCChoice\"],ModuleName [\"Gap\"],ModuleName [\"Info\"],ModuleName [\"Lang\"],ModuleName [\"Lint\"],ModuleName [\"List\"],ModuleName [\"Paths_ghc_mod\"],ModuleName [\"Types\"]], defaultLanguage = Nothing, otherLanguages = [], defaultExtensions = [], otherExtensions = [], oldExtensions = [], extraLibs = [], extraLibDirs = [], includeDirs = [], includes = [], installIncludes = [], options = [(GHC,[\"-Wall\"])], ghcProfOptions = [], ghcSharedOptions = [], customFieldsBI = [], targetBuildDepends = []})"
-
-        it "returns Nothing if the cabal file is broken" $ do
-            info <- cabalBuildInfo <$> cabalParseFile "test/data/broken-cabal/broken.cabal"
-            info `shouldBe` Nothing
+            info <- cabalAllBuildInfo <$> parseCabalFile "test/data/cabalapi.cabal"
+            show info `shouldBe` "[BuildInfo {buildable = True, buildTools = [], cppOptions = [], ccOptions = [], ldOptions = [], pkgconfigDepends = [], frameworks = [], cSources = [], hsSourceDirs = [\".\"], otherModules = [ModuleName [\"Browse\"],ModuleName [\"CabalApi\"],ModuleName [\"Cabal\"],ModuleName [\"CabalDev\"],ModuleName [\"Check\"],ModuleName [\"ErrMsg\"],ModuleName [\"Flag\"],ModuleName [\"GHCApi\"],ModuleName [\"GHCChoice\"],ModuleName [\"Gap\"],ModuleName [\"Info\"],ModuleName [\"Lang\"],ModuleName [\"Lint\"],ModuleName [\"List\"],ModuleName [\"Paths_ghc_mod\"],ModuleName [\"Types\"]], defaultLanguage = Nothing, otherLanguages = [], defaultExtensions = [], otherExtensions = [], oldExtensions = [], extraLibs = [], extraLibDirs = [], includeDirs = [], includes = [], installIncludes = [], options = [(GHC,[\"-Wall\"])], ghcProfOptions = [], ghcSharedOptions = [], customFieldsBI = [], targetBuildDepends = [Dependency (PackageName \"Cabal\") (UnionVersionRanges (ThisVersion (Version {versionBranch = [1,10], versionTags = []})) (LaterVersion (Version {versionBranch = [1,10], versionTags = []}))),Dependency (PackageName \"base\") (IntersectVersionRanges (UnionVersionRanges (ThisVersion (Version {versionBranch = [4,0], versionTags = []})) (LaterVersion (Version {versionBranch = [4,0], versionTags = []}))) (EarlierVersion (Version {versionBranch = [5], versionTags = []}))),Dependency (PackageName \"template-haskell\") AnyVersion]},BuildInfo {buildable = True, buildTools = [], cppOptions = [], ccOptions = [], ldOptions = [], pkgconfigDepends = [], frameworks = [], cSources = [], hsSourceDirs = [\"test\",\".\"], otherModules = [ModuleName [\"Expectation\"],ModuleName [\"BrowseSpec\"],ModuleName [\"CabalApiSpec\"],ModuleName [\"FlagSpec\"],ModuleName [\"LangSpec\"],ModuleName [\"LintSpec\"],ModuleName [\"ListSpec\"]], defaultLanguage = Nothing, otherLanguages = [], defaultExtensions = [], otherExtensions = [], oldExtensions = [], extraLibs = [], extraLibDirs = [], includeDirs = [], includes = [], installIncludes = [], options = [], ghcProfOptions = [], ghcSharedOptions = [], customFieldsBI = [], targetBuildDepends = [Dependency (PackageName \"Cabal\") (UnionVersionRanges (ThisVersion (Version {versionBranch = [1,10], versionTags = []})) (LaterVersion (Version {versionBranch = [1,10], versionTags = []}))),Dependency (PackageName \"base\") (IntersectVersionRanges (UnionVersionRanges (ThisVersion (Version {versionBranch = [4,0], versionTags = []})) (LaterVersion (Version {versionBranch = [4,0], versionTags = []}))) (EarlierVersion (Version {versionBranch = [5], versionTags = []})))]}]"