diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/search.rb b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/search.rb
index 476b24b49c..a03738bc82 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/search.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/search.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 require 'formula'
 require 'blacklist'
 require 'utils'
-require 'utils/json'
 
 module Homebrew extend self
 
@@ -103,9 +102,9 @@ module Homebrew extend self
     return [] if (HOMEBREW_LIBRARY/"Taps/#{user.downcase}-#{repo.downcase}").directory?
 
     results = []
-    GitHub.open "https://api.github.com/repos/#{user}/homebrew-#{repo}/git/trees/HEAD?recursive=1" do |f|
+    GitHub.open "https://api.github.com/repos/#{user}/homebrew-#{repo}/git/trees/HEAD?recursive=1" do |json|
       user = user.downcase if user == "Homebrew" # special handling for the Homebrew organization
-      Utils::JSON.load(f.read)["tree"].map{ |hash| hash['path'] }.compact.each do |file|
+      json["tree"].map{ |hash| hash['path'] }.compact.each do |file|
         name = File.basename(file, '.rb')
         if file =~ /\.rb$/ and name =~ rx
           results << "#{user}/#{repo}/#{name}"
@@ -113,10 +112,8 @@ module Homebrew extend self
       end
     end
     results
-  rescue OpenURI::HTTPError, GitHub::Error, Utils::JSON::Error
-    opoo <<-EOS.undent
-      Failed to search tap: #{user}/#{repo}. Please run `brew update`.
-    EOS
+  rescue OpenURI::HTTPError, GitHub::Error
+    opoo "Failed to search tap: #{user}/#{repo}. Please run `brew update`"
     []
   end
 
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb b/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
index f48e92b83a..2f5bf1b0d1 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/utils.rb
@@ -261,7 +261,9 @@ module GitHub extend self
 
     default_headers = {'User-Agent' => HOMEBREW_USER_AGENT}
     default_headers['Authorization'] = "token #{HOMEBREW_GITHUB_API_TOKEN}" if HOMEBREW_GITHUB_API_TOKEN
-    Kernel.open(url, default_headers.merge(headers), &block)
+    Kernel.open(url, default_headers.merge(headers)) do |f|
+      yield Utils::JSON.load(f.read)
+    end
   rescue OpenURI::HTTPError => e
     if e.io.meta['x-ratelimit-remaining'].to_i <= 0
       raise <<-EOS.undent
@@ -274,11 +276,13 @@ module GitHub extend self
     end
   rescue SocketError, OpenSSL::SSL::SSLError => e
     raise Error, "Failed to connect to: #{url}\n#{e.message}"
+  rescue Utils::JSON::Error => e
+    raise Error, "Failed to parse JSON response\n#{e.message}"
   end
 
   def issues_matching(query)
     uri = ISSUES_URI + uri_escape(query)
-    open(uri) { |f| Utils::JSON.load(f.read)['issues'] }
+    open(uri) { |json| json["issues"] }
   end
 
   def uri_escape(query)