diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0a275c2..cacf358 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ pip install https://github.com/boto/botocore/archive/v2.zip https://github.com/a
 
 ## Change Log
 
+* v0.22.2: Display full stack traces only in `--debug` mode; non-debug runs now show concise error messages, consistent with `awscli` behavior.
 * v0.22.1: Fix issue with cfn package and cfn deploy with awscli >= 1.41.9
 * v0.22.0: Use fallback for endpoint detection. Should prevent most cases of `Unable to find LocalStack endpoint for service ...`
 * v0.21.1: Introducing semantic versioning and list of services without endpoints
diff --git a/bin/awslocal b/bin/awslocal
index 8afacb8..0ef01f1 100755
--- a/bin/awslocal
+++ b/bin/awslocal
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import os
 import sys
 import subprocess
 import re
+import traceback
 
 PARENT_FOLDER = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..'))
 S3_VIRTUAL_ENDPOINT_HOSTNAME = 's3.localhost.localstack.cloud'
@@ -41,6 +42,8 @@ def get_service():
         if not param.startswith('-'):
             return param
 
+def is_debug_mode():
+    return "--debug" in sys.argv
 
 def get_service_endpoint(localstack_host=None):
     service = get_service()
@@ -83,7 +86,14 @@ def main():
     try:
         import awscli.clidriver  # noqa: F401
     except Exception:
-        return run_as_separate_process()
+        try:
+            return run_as_separate_process()
+        except Exception as e:
+            if is_debug_mode():
+                traceback.print_exc()
+            else:
+                print(f"\n{e}")
+            sys.exit(1)
     patch_awscli_libs()
     run_in_process()
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index b895bb0..bd7e891 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
     setup(
         name='awscli-local',
-        version='0.22.1',
+        version='0.22.2',
         description=description,
         long_description=README,
         long_description_content_type='text/markdown',