diff --git a/deb/contents.go b/deb/contents.go
index e3dc8eb7..b13a8343 100644
--- a/deb/contents.go
+++ b/deb/contents.go
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ func NewContentsIndex(db database.Storage) *ContentsIndex {
 }
 
 // Push adds package to contents index, calculating package contents as required
-func (index *ContentsIndex) Push(p *Package, packagePool aptly.PackagePool) error {
-	contents := p.Contents(packagePool)
+func (index *ContentsIndex) Push(p *Package, packagePool aptly.PackagePool, progress aptly.Progress) error {
+	contents := p.Contents(packagePool, progress)
 	qualifiedName := []byte(p.QualifiedName())
 
 	for _, path := range contents {
diff --git a/deb/package.go b/deb/package.go
index c8b8ef63..764ddb71 100644
--- a/deb/package.go
+++ b/deb/package.go
@@ -403,32 +403,38 @@ func (p *Package) Files() PackageFiles {
 }
 
 // Contents returns cached package contents
-func (p *Package) Contents(packagePool aptly.PackagePool) []string {
+func (p *Package) Contents(packagePool aptly.PackagePool, progress aptly.Progress) []string {
 	if p.IsSource {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	return p.collection.loadContents(p, packagePool)
+	return p.collection.loadContents(p, packagePool, progress)
 }
 
 // CalculateContents looks up contents in package file
-func (p *Package) CalculateContents(packagePool aptly.PackagePool) []string {
+func (p *Package) CalculateContents(packagePool aptly.PackagePool, progress aptly.Progress) ([]string, error) {
 	if p.IsSource {
-		return nil
+		return nil, nil
 	}
 
 	file := p.Files()[0]
 	path, err := packagePool.Path(file.Filename, file.Checksums.MD5)
 	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
+		if progress != nil {
+			progress.ColoredPrintf("@y[!]@| @!Failed to build pool path: @| %s", err)
+		}
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	contents, err := GetContentsFromDeb(path)
 	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
+		if progress != nil {
+			progress.ColoredPrintf("@y[!]@| @!Failed to generate package contents: @| %s", err)
+		}
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	return contents
+	return contents, nil
 }
 
 // UpdateFiles saves new state of files
diff --git a/deb/package_collection.go b/deb/package_collection.go
index abc45452..3f282ac5 100644
--- a/deb/package_collection.go
+++ b/deb/package_collection.go
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ func (collection *PackageCollection) loadFiles(p *Package) *PackageFiles {
 }
 
 // loadContents loads or calculates and saves package contents
-func (collection *PackageCollection) loadContents(p *Package, packagePool aptly.PackagePool) []string {
+func (collection *PackageCollection) loadContents(p *Package, packagePool aptly.PackagePool, progress aptly.Progress) []string {
 	encoded, err := collection.db.Get(p.Key("xC"))
 	if err == nil {
 		contents := []string{}
@@ -181,7 +181,11 @@ func (collection *PackageCollection) loadContents(p *Package, packagePool aptly.
 		panic("unable to load contents")
 	}
 
-	contents := p.CalculateContents(packagePool)
+	contents, err := p.CalculateContents(packagePool, progress)
+	if err != nil {
+		// failed to acquire contents, don't persist it
+		return contents
+	}
 
 	var buf bytes.Buffer
 	err = codec.NewEncoder(&buf, collection.codecHandle).Encode(contents)
diff --git a/deb/publish.go b/deb/publish.go
index df043fde..2f9b516f 100644
--- a/deb/publish.go
+++ b/deb/publish.go
@@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ func (p *PublishedRepo) Publish(packagePool aptly.PackagePool, publishedStorageP
 							contentIndexes[key] = contentIndex
 						}
 
-						contentIndex.Push(pkg, packagePool)
+						contentIndex.Push(pkg, packagePool, progress)
 					}
 
 					bufWriter, err = indexes.PackageIndex(component, arch, pkg.IsUdeb).BufWriter()
diff --git a/system/t06_publish/PublishRepo29Test/libboost-broken-program-options-dev_1.49.0.1_i386.deb b/system/t06_publish/PublishRepo29Test/libboost-broken-program-options-dev_1.49.0.1_i386.deb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9ac6e0d6
Binary files /dev/null and b/system/t06_publish/PublishRepo29Test/libboost-broken-program-options-dev_1.49.0.1_i386.deb differ
diff --git a/system/t06_publish/PublishRepo29Test_gold b/system/t06_publish/PublishRepo29Test_gold
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..505fe84a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/system/t06_publish/PublishRepo29Test_gold
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+Loading packages...
+Generating metadata files and linking package files...
+[!] Failed to generate package contents:  unable to read .tar archive from ${HOME}/.aptly/pool/3a/0a/libboost-broken-program-options-dev_1.49.0.1_i386.deb: unexpected EOF
+Finalizing metadata files...
+Signing file 'Release' with gpg, please enter your passphrase when prompted:
+Clearsigning file 'Release' with gpg, please enter your passphrase when prompted:
+
+Local repo local-repo has been successfully published.
+Please setup your webserver to serve directory '${HOME}/.aptly/public' with autoindexing.
+Now you can add following line to apt sources:
+  deb http://your-server/ maverick main
+Don't forget to add your GPG key to apt with apt-key.
+
+You can also use `aptly serve` to publish your repositories over HTTP quickly.
diff --git a/system/t06_publish/repo.py b/system/t06_publish/repo.py
index 0a26ccfb..36ad902a 100644
--- a/system/t06_publish/repo.py
+++ b/system/t06_publish/repo.py
@@ -694,3 +694,15 @@ class PublishRepo28Test(BaseTest):
         self.check_not_exists('public/dists/maverick/main/Contents-i386.gz')
         self.check_exists('public/dists/maverick/main/debian-installer/binary-i386/Release')
         self.check_not_exists('public/dists/maverick/main/Contents-udeb-i386.gz')
+
+
+class PublishRepo29Test(BaseTest):
+    """
+    publish repo: broken .deb file for contents
+    """
+    fixtureCmds = [
+        "aptly repo create local-repo",
+        "aptly repo add local-repo ${testfiles}",
+    ]
+    runCmd = "aptly publish repo -keyring=${files}/aptly.pub -secret-keyring=${files}/aptly.sec -distribution=maverick local-repo"
+    gold_processor = BaseTest.expand_environ