diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f641cf2da7..770665e5da 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## v1.0.0-beta2 [unreleased]
+
+### Release Notes
+
+### Features
+
+### Bugfixes
+
+- [#621](https://github.com/influxdata/kapacitor/pull/621): Fix obscure error about single vs double quotes.
+
+
 ## v1.0.0-beta1 [2016-06-06]
 
 ### Release Notes
diff --git a/tick/eval.go b/tick/eval.go
index bbf26876f6..779fc32b9e 100644
--- a/tick/eval.go
+++ b/tick/eval.go
@@ -239,7 +239,10 @@ func eval(n ast.Node, scope *stateful.Scope, stck *stack, predefinedVars, defaul
 				ret := stck.Pop()
 				if f, ok := ret.(unboundFunc); ok {
 					// Call global function
-					f(nil)
+					_, err := f(nil)
+					if err != nil {
+						return err
+					}
 				}
 			}
 		}
@@ -483,9 +486,9 @@ func evalFunc(f *ast.FunctionNode, scope *stateful.Scope, stck *stack, args []in
 	rec := func(obj interface{}, errp *error) {
 		e := recover()
 		if e != nil {
-			*errp = fmt.Errorf("line %d char%d: error calling func %q on obj %T: %v", f.Line(), f.Char(), f.Func, obj, e)
-			if strings.Contains((*errp).Error(), "*tick.ReferenceNode") && strings.Contains((*errp).Error(), "type string") {
-				*errp = fmt.Errorf("line %d char%d: cannot assign *tick.ReferenceNode to type string, did you use double quotes instead of single quotes?", f.Line(), f.Char())
+			*errp = fmt.Errorf("line %d char %d: error calling func %q on obj %T: %v", f.Line(), f.Char(), f.Func, obj, e)
+			if strings.Contains((*errp).Error(), "*ast.ReferenceNode") && strings.Contains((*errp).Error(), "type string") {
+				*errp = fmt.Errorf("line %d char %d: cannot assign *ast.ReferenceNode to type string, did you use double quotes instead of single quotes?", f.Line(), f.Char())
 			}
 
 		}
@@ -496,12 +499,12 @@ func evalFunc(f *ast.FunctionNode, scope *stateful.Scope, stck *stack, args []in
 
 		if f.Type == ast.GlobalFunc {
 			if obj != nil {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("line %d char%d: calling global function on object %T", f.Line(), f.Char(), obj)
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("line %d char %d: calling global function on object %T", f.Line(), f.Char(), obj)
 			}
 			// Object is nil, check for func in scope
 			fnc, _ := scope.Get(f.Func)
 			if fnc == nil {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("line %d char%d: no global function %q defined", f.Line(), f.Char(), f.Func)
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("line %d char %d: no global function %q defined", f.Line(), f.Char(), f.Func)
 			}
 			method := reflect.ValueOf(fnc)
 			o, err := callMethodReflection(method, args)
diff --git a/tick/eval_test.go b/tick/eval_test.go
index e188b823fd..2ca53f26fb 100644
--- a/tick/eval_test.go
+++ b/tick/eval_test.go
@@ -818,16 +818,34 @@ f(strList)
 	scope := stateful.NewScope()
 	scope.Set("f", f)
 
-	vars, err := tick.Evaluate(script, scope, nil, false)
+	_, err := tick.Evaluate(script, scope, nil, false)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	t.Log(vars)
 	if !called {
 		t.Fatal("expected function to be called")
 	}
 }
 
+func TestEvaluate_StringQuotesError(t *testing.T) {
+	script := `
+f("asdf")
+`
+
+	f := func(got string) {
+		t.Fatal("function should not be called")
+	}
+	scope := stateful.NewScope()
+	scope.Set("f", f)
+
+	_, err := tick.Evaluate(script, scope, nil, false)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected error from invalid string call")
+	} else if got, exp := err.Error(), "line 2 char 1: cannot assign *ast.ReferenceNode to type string, did you use double quotes instead of single quotes?"; got != exp {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error string: \ngot\n%s\nexp\n%s\n", got, exp)
+	}
+}
+
 //------------------------------------
 // Types for TestReflectionDescriber
 //