diff --git a/examples/remote-sources/README.md b/examples/remote-sources/README.md
index f49dacf266..75c23e7147 100644
--- a/examples/remote-sources/README.md
+++ b/examples/remote-sources/README.md
@@ -70,12 +70,12 @@ project:
   name: remote-sources
   sources:
     - name: web-services
-      repositoryUrl: https://github.com/garden-io/garden-example-remote-sources-web-services.git#master
+      repositoryUrl: https://github.com/garden-io/garden-example-remote-sources-web-services.git#v0.1.0
     - name: db-services
-      repositoryUrl: https://github.com/garden-io/garden-example-remote-sources-db-services.git#master
+      repositoryUrl: https://github.com/garden-io/garden-example-remote-sources-db-services.git#v0.1.0
 ```
 
-> Remote repository URLs must contain a hash part that references a specific branch or tag, e.g. `https://github.com/org/repo.git/#v1.0`.
+> Remote repository URLs must contain a hash part that references a specific branch or tag, e.g. `https://github.com/org/repo.git/#my-tag-or-branch`. The remote repositories used in this example all contain the tag `v0.1.0`. Read more about Git tagging [here](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Basics-Tagging).
 
 ### Configuring remote modules
 
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ module:
   description: worker
   type: container
   name: jworker
-  repositoryUrl: https://github.com/garden-io/garden-example-remote-module-jworker.git#master
+  repositoryUrl: https://github.com/garden-io/garden-example-remote-module-jworker.git#v0.1.0
   services:
     - name: javaworker
       dependencies:
diff --git a/examples/remote-sources/garden.yml b/examples/remote-sources/garden.yml
index 8bb675c24d..fa5842682d 100644
--- a/examples/remote-sources/garden.yml
+++ b/examples/remote-sources/garden.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@ project:
   name: remote-sources
   sources:
     - name: web-services
-      repositoryUrl: https://github.com/garden-io/garden-example-remote-sources-web-services.git#master
+      repositoryUrl: https://github.com/garden-io/garden-example-remote-sources-web-services.git#v0.1.0
     - name: db-services
-      repositoryUrl: https://github.com/garden-io/garden-example-remote-sources-db-services.git#master
+      repositoryUrl: https://github.com/garden-io/garden-example-remote-sources-db-services.git#v0.1.0
diff --git a/examples/remote-sources/services/jworker/garden.yml b/examples/remote-sources/services/jworker/garden.yml
index a88fdd1055..400e31537f 100644
--- a/examples/remote-sources/services/jworker/garden.yml
+++ b/examples/remote-sources/services/jworker/garden.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ module:
   description: worker
   type: container
   name: jworker
-  repositoryUrl: https://github.com/garden-io/garden-example-remote-module-jworker.git#master
+  repositoryUrl: https://github.com/garden-io/garden-example-remote-module-jworker.git#v0.1.0
   services:
     - name: javaworker
       dependencies:
diff --git a/garden-service/src/vcs/git.ts b/garden-service/src/vcs/git.ts
index 574ecf4fef..f39b585478 100644
--- a/garden-service/src/vcs/git.ts
+++ b/garden-service/src/vcs/git.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import { ensureDir, pathExists, stat } from "fs-extra"
 import Bluebird = require("bluebird")
 
 import { NEW_MODULE_VERSION, VcsHandler, RemoteSourceParams } from "./base"
-import { ConfigurationError } from "../exceptions"
+import { ConfigurationError, RuntimeError } from "../exceptions"
 
 export const helpers = {
   gitCli: (cwd: string): (cmd: string, args: string[]) => Promise<string> => {
@@ -105,7 +105,15 @@ export class GitHandler extends VcsHandler {
       const entry = logEntry.info({ section: name, msg: `Fetching from ${url}`, status: "active" })
       const { repositoryUrl, hash } = parseGitUrl(url)
 
-      await git("clone", ["--depth=1", `--branch=${hash}`, repositoryUrl, absPath])
+      try {
+        await git("clone", ["--depth=1", `--branch=${hash}`, repositoryUrl, absPath])
+      } catch (err) {
+        entry.setError()
+        throw new RuntimeError(`Downloading remote ${sourceType} failed with error: \n\n${err}`, {
+          repositoryUrl: url,
+          message: err.message,
+        })
+      }
 
       entry.setSuccess()
     }
@@ -129,8 +137,16 @@ export class GitHandler extends VcsHandler {
     if (localCommitId !== remoteCommitId) {
       entry.setState(`Fetching from ${url}`)
 
-      await git("fetch", ["--depth=1", "origin", hash])
-      await git("reset", ["--hard", `origin/${hash}`])
+      try {
+        await git("fetch", ["--depth=1", "origin", hash])
+        await git("reset", ["--hard", `origin/${hash}`])
+      } catch (err) {
+        entry.setError()
+        throw new RuntimeError(`Updating remote ${sourceType} failed with error: \n\n${err}`, {
+          repositoryUrl: url,
+          message: err.message,
+        })
+      }
 
       entry.setSuccess("Source updated")
     } else {