diff --git a/extensions/typescript/src/typescriptServiceClient.ts b/extensions/typescript/src/typescriptServiceClient.ts
index 450efffdb3d..bb4c5c6dc6f 100644
--- a/extensions/typescript/src/typescriptServiceClient.ts
+++ b/extensions/typescript/src/typescriptServiceClient.ts
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ export default class TypeScriptServiceClient implements ITypescriptServiceClient
 				electron.fork(modulePath, [], options, (err: any, childProcess: cp.ChildProcess) => {
 					if (err) {
 						this.lastError = err;
-						window.showErrorMessage(localize('serverCouldNotBeStarted', 'TypeScript language server couldn\'t be started. Error message is: {0}'), err.message);
+						window.showErrorMessage(localize('serverCouldNotBeStarted', 'TypeScript language server couldn\'t be started. Error message is: {0}', err.message || err));
 						this.logTelemetry('error', {message: err.message});
 						return;
 					}
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/api/node/extHostMessageService.ts b/src/vs/workbench/api/node/extHostMessageService.ts
index 27797c13b39..7ee0ee9743d 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/api/node/extHostMessageService.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/api/node/extHostMessageService.ts
@@ -28,9 +28,11 @@ export class ExtHostMessageService {
 			let command = commands[handle];
 			if (typeof command === 'string') {
 				items.push({ title: command, handle, isCloseAffordance: false });
-			} else {
+			} else if (typeof command === 'object') {
 				let {title, isCloseAffordance} = command;
 				items.push({ title, isCloseAffordance, handle });
+			} else {
+				console.warn('Invalid message item:', command);
 			}
 		}