diff --git a/src/modules/kvs-watch/kvs-watch.c b/src/modules/kvs-watch/kvs-watch.c
index 76498daaa595..2c19a3ac576c 100644
--- a/src/modules/kvs-watch/kvs-watch.c
+++ b/src/modules/kvs-watch/kvs-watch.c
@@ -252,18 +252,27 @@ static int handle_initial_response (flux_t *h,
                                 NULL,
                                 &w->append_offset) < 0) {
             flux_log_error (h, "%s: treeobj_decode_val", __FUNCTION__);
-            return -1;
+            goto error_respond;
         }
     }
 
     if (flux_respond_pack (h, w->request, "{ s:O }", "val", val) < 0) {
-        flux_log_error (h, "%s: flux_respond_pack", __FUNCTION__);
+        flux_log_error (h,
+                        "%s: failed to respond to kvs-watch.lookup",
+                        __FUNCTION__);
         return -1;
     }
 
     w->initial_rootseq = root_seq;
     w->responded = true;
     return 0;
+
+error_respond:
+    if (!w->mute) {
+        if (flux_respond_error (h, w->request, errno, NULL) < 0)
+            flux_log_error (h, "%s: flux_respond_error", __FUNCTION__);
+    }
+    return -1;
 }
 
 static int handle_compare_response (flux_t *h,
@@ -277,7 +286,9 @@ static int handle_compare_response (flux_t *h,
         w->prev = json_incref (val);
 
         if (flux_respond_pack (h, w->request, "{ s:O }", "val", val) < 0) {
-            flux_log_error (h, "%s: flux_respond_pack", __FUNCTION__);
+            flux_log_error (h,
+                            "%s: failed to respond to kvs-watch.lookup",
+                            __FUNCTION__);
             return -1;
         }
 
@@ -293,7 +304,9 @@ static int handle_compare_response (flux_t *h,
         w->prev = json_incref (val);
 
         if (flux_respond_pack (h, w->request, "{ s:O }", "val", val) < 0) {
-            flux_log_error (h, "%s: flux_respond_pack", __FUNCTION__);
+            flux_log_error (h,
+                            "%s: failed to respond to kvs-watch.lookup",
+                            __FUNCTION__);
             return -1;
         }
     }
@@ -302,8 +315,8 @@ static int handle_compare_response (flux_t *h,
 }
 
 static int handle_append_response (flux_t *h,
-                                    struct watcher *w,
-                                    json_t *val)
+                                   struct watcher *w,
+                                   json_t *val)
 {
     if (!w->responded) {
         /* this is the first response case, store the first response
@@ -313,11 +326,13 @@ static int handle_append_response (flux_t *h,
                                 NULL,
                                 &w->append_offset) < 0) {
             flux_log_error (h, "%s: treeobj_decode_val", __FUNCTION__);
-            return -1;
+            goto error_respond;
         }
 
         if (flux_respond_pack (h, w->request, "{ s:O }", "val", val) < 0) {
-            flux_log_error (h, "%s: flux_respond_pack", __FUNCTION__);
+            flux_log_error (h,
+                            "%s: failed to respond to kvs-watch.lookup",
+                            __FUNCTION__);
             return -1;
         }
 
@@ -332,7 +347,7 @@ static int handle_append_response (flux_t *h,
                                 &new_data,
                                 &new_offset) < 0) {
             flux_log_error (h, "%s: treeobj_decode_val", __FUNCTION__);
-            return -1;
+            goto error_respond;
         }
 
         /* check length to determine if append actually happened, note
@@ -345,13 +360,13 @@ static int handle_append_response (flux_t *h,
         if (new_offset < w->append_offset) {
             free (new_data);
             errno = EINVAL;
-            return -1;
+            goto error_respond;
         }
 
         if (!(new_val = treeobj_create_val (new_data + w->append_offset,
                                             new_offset - w->append_offset))) {
             free (new_data);
-            return -1;
+            goto error_respond;
         }
 
         free (new_data);
@@ -359,12 +374,21 @@ static int handle_append_response (flux_t *h,
 
         if (flux_respond_pack (h, w->request, "{ s:o }", "val", new_val) < 0) {
             json_decref (new_val);
-            flux_log_error (h, "%s: flux_respond_pack", __FUNCTION__);
+            flux_log_error (h,
+                            "%s: failed to respond to kvs-watch.lookup",
+                            __FUNCTION__);
             return -1;
         }
     }
 
     return 0;
+
+error_respond:
+    if (!w->mute) {
+        if (flux_respond_error (h, w->request, errno, NULL) < 0)
+            flux_log_error (h, "%s: flux_respond_error", __FUNCTION__);
+    }
+    return -1;
 }
 
 static int handle_normal_response (flux_t *h,
@@ -372,7 +396,9 @@ static int handle_normal_response (flux_t *h,
                                    json_t *val)
 {
     if (flux_respond_pack (h, w->request, "{ s:O }", "val", val) < 0) {
-        flux_log_error (h, "%s: flux_respond_pack", __FUNCTION__);
+        flux_log_error (h,
+                        "%s: failed to respond to kvs-watch.lookup",
+                        __FUNCTION__);
         return -1;
     }
 
@@ -437,13 +463,11 @@ static void handle_lookup_response (flux_future_t *f,
         }
 
         if (handle_initial_response (h, w, val, root_seq) < 0)
-            goto error;
+            goto finished;
     }
     else {
         /* First check for ENOENT */
-        if (!flux_rpc_get_unpack (f, "{ s:i s:i }",
-                                  "errno", &errnum,
-                                  "rootseq", &root_seq)) {
+        if (!flux_rpc_get_unpack (f, "{ s:i }", "errno", &errnum)) {
             assert (errnum == ENOENT);
             errno = errnum;
             goto error;
@@ -463,15 +487,15 @@ static void handle_lookup_response (flux_future_t *f,
             if ((w->flags & FLUX_KVS_WATCH_FULL)
                 || (w->flags & FLUX_KVS_WATCH_UNIQ)) {
                 if (handle_compare_response (h, w, val) < 0)
-                    goto error;
+                    goto finished;
             }
             else if (w->flags & FLUX_KVS_WATCH_APPEND) {
                 if (handle_append_response (h, w, val) < 0)
-                    goto error;
+                    goto finished;
             }
             else {
                 if (handle_normal_response (h, w, val) < 0)
-                    goto error;
+                    goto finished;
             }
         }
     }
@@ -481,6 +505,7 @@ static void handle_lookup_response (flux_future_t *f,
         if (flux_respond_error (h, w->request, errno, NULL) < 0)
             flux_log_error (h, "%s: flux_respond_error", __FUNCTION__);
     }
+finished:
     w->finished = true;
 }
 
@@ -647,11 +672,15 @@ static void watcher_respond (struct ns_monitor *nsm, struct watcher *w)
     }
     /* flux_kvs_lookup (FLUX_KVS_WATCH)
      *
-     * Ordering note: KVS lookups can be returned out of order.  KVS lookup
-     * futures are added to the w->lookups zlist in commit order here, and
-     * in lookup_continuation(), fulfilled futures are popped off the head
-     * of w->lookups until an unfulfilled future is encountered, so that
-     * responses are always returned to the watcher in commit order.
+     * Ordering note: KVS lookups can be returned out of order because
+     * they are processed asynchronously.  For example, some values
+     * may be cached within the KVS while others are not.
+     *
+     * KVS lookup futures are added to the w->lookups zlist in commit
+     * order here, and in lookup_continuation(), fulfilled futures are
+     * popped off the head of w->lookups until an unfulfilled future
+     * is encountered, so that responses are always returned to the
+     * watcher in commit order.
      *
      * Security note: although the requester has already been authenticated
      * to access the namespace by check_authorization() above, we make the
@@ -1061,7 +1090,9 @@ static void stats_cb (flux_t *h, flux_msg_handler_t *mh,
                            "watchers", watchers,
                            "namespace-count", (int)zhash_size (ctx->namespaces),
                            "namespaces", stats) < 0)
-        flux_log_error (h, "%s: flux_respond_pack", __FUNCTION__);
+        flux_log_error (h,
+                        "%s: failed to respond to kvs-watch.stats-get",
+                        __FUNCTION__);
     json_decref (stats);
     return;
 nomem: