diff --git a/src/org/intellij/erlang/debugger/node/ErlangProcessSnapshot.java b/src/org/intellij/erlang/debugger/node/ErlangProcessSnapshot.java
index 9c85203ee..84a09b562 100644
--- a/src/org/intellij/erlang/debugger/node/ErlangProcessSnapshot.java
+++ b/src/org/intellij/erlang/debugger/node/ErlangProcessSnapshot.java
@@ -81,4 +81,11 @@ public String getExitReason() {
   public List<ErlangTraceElement> getStack() {
     return myStack;
   }
+
+  public boolean isSameBreakpoint(@NotNull ErlangProcessSnapshot snapshot) {
+    return myPid.equals(snapshot.getPid())
+           && myBreakModule != null
+           && myBreakModule.equals(snapshot.getBreakModule())
+           && myBreakLine == snapshot.getBreakLine();
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/org/intellij/erlang/debugger/xdebug/ErlangXDebugProcess.java b/src/org/intellij/erlang/debugger/xdebug/ErlangXDebugProcess.java
index 1ebd92712..f6614d1aa 100644
--- a/src/org/intellij/erlang/debugger/xdebug/ErlangXDebugProcess.java
+++ b/src/org/intellij/erlang/debugger/xdebug/ErlangXDebugProcess.java
@@ -16,8 +16,10 @@
 
 package org.intellij.erlang.debugger.xdebug;
 
+import com.ericsson.otp.erlang.OtpErlangAtom;
 import com.ericsson.otp.erlang.OtpErlangObject;
 import com.ericsson.otp.erlang.OtpErlangPid;
+import com.ericsson.otp.erlang.OtpErlangTuple;
 import com.intellij.execution.ExecutionException;
 import com.intellij.execution.configurations.GeneralCommandLine;
 import com.intellij.execution.process.OSProcessHandler;
@@ -72,7 +74,6 @@
 import static org.intellij.erlang.debugger.ErlangDebuggerLog.LOG;
 
 public class ErlangXDebugProcess extends XDebugProcess implements ErlangDebuggerEventListener {
-  private final XDebugSession mySession;
   private final ExecutionEnvironment myExecutionEnvironment;
   private final ErlangRunningState myRunningState;
   private final ErlangDebuggerNode myDebuggerNode;
@@ -83,11 +84,17 @@ public class ErlangXDebugProcess extends XDebugProcess implements ErlangDebugger
   private ConcurrentHashMap<ErlangSourcePosition, XLineBreakpoint<ErlangLineBreakpointProperties>> myPositionToLineBreakpointMap =
     new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
   private XDebuggerEvaluator.XEvaluationCallback myEvalCallback = null;
+  // right after evaluating an expression, the erlang debugger will trigger a new "breakpoint reached" event
+  // unfortunately, that means this plugin will try to concurrently render the new state of the bindings as
+  // well as the result from the evaluation, which Intellij doesn't seem to handle too well, resulting in
+  // the debugging session losing track of what the current frame is... so we just ignore the next "breakpoint
+  // reached" event after evaluating an expression if it's the same breakpoint - better ideas welcome!
+  private ErlangProcessSnapshot myLastBreakpointReached = null;
+  private boolean myIgnoreNextBreakpointIfSame = false;
 
   public ErlangXDebugProcess(@NotNull XDebugSession session, ExecutionEnvironment env) throws ExecutionException {
     //TODO add debug build targets and make sure the project is built using them.
     super(session);
-    mySession = session;
 
     session.setPauseActionSupported(false);
 
@@ -124,18 +131,46 @@ public ErlangDebugLocationResolver getLocationResolver() {
   public synchronized void evaluateExpression(@NotNull String expression,
                                               @NotNull XDebuggerEvaluator.XEvaluationCallback callback,
                                               @NotNull ErlangTraceElement traceElement) {
-    // need to pause the debugging session otherwise the callback might get invalidated
-    mySession.pause();
     myEvalCallback = callback;
+    // see the comment about myIgnoreNextBreakpointIfSame
+    myIgnoreNextBreakpointIfSame = true;
     myDebuggerNode.evaluate(expression, traceElement);
   }
 
   @Override
   public synchronized void handleEvaluationResponse(OtpErlangObject response) {
     if (myEvalCallback != null) {
-      myEvalCallback.evaluated(ErlangXValueFactory.create(response));
-      mySession.resume();
+      String error = maybeExtractErrorFromEvaluationResponse(response);
+
+      if (error == null) {
+        myEvalCallback.evaluated(ErlangXValueFactory.create(response));
+      }
+      else {
+        myEvalCallback.errorOccurred(error);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Parses the response from an evaluation and determines whether it's an error
+  // response or not; if it is an error, formats it as a displayable string, if
+  // it's not, just returns null
+  private static String maybeExtractErrorFromEvaluationResponse(OtpErlangObject response) {
+    // is it a parsing error?
+    if (response instanceof OtpErlangAtom && ((OtpErlangAtom) response).atomValue().equals("Parse error")) {
+      return "Parse error";
     }
+
+    // is it an uncaught exception?
+    if (response instanceof OtpErlangTuple) {
+      OtpErlangObject[] elements = ((OtpErlangTuple) response).elements();
+      if (elements.length == 2
+          && elements[0] instanceof OtpErlangAtom
+          && ((OtpErlangAtom) elements[0]).atomValue().equals("EXIT")) {
+        return "Uncaught exception: " + elements[1];
+      }
+    }
+
+    return null;
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -177,9 +212,18 @@ public void breakpointIsSet(String module, int line) {
   }
 
   @Override
-  public void breakpointReached(final OtpErlangPid pid, List<ErlangProcessSnapshot> snapshots) {
+  public synchronized void breakpointReached(final OtpErlangPid pid, List<ErlangProcessSnapshot> snapshots) {
     ErlangProcessSnapshot processInBreakpoint = ContainerUtil.find(snapshots, erlangProcessSnapshot -> erlangProcessSnapshot.getPid().equals(pid));
     assert processInBreakpoint != null;
+
+    boolean ignoreIfSame = myIgnoreNextBreakpointIfSame;
+    myIgnoreNextBreakpointIfSame = false;
+    if (ignoreIfSame && myLastBreakpointReached.isSameBreakpoint(processInBreakpoint)) {
+      // see the comment about myLastBreakpointReached
+      return;
+    }
+
+    myLastBreakpointReached = processInBreakpoint;
     ErlangSourcePosition breakPosition = ErlangSourcePosition.create(myLocationResolver, processInBreakpoint);
     XLineBreakpoint<ErlangLineBreakpointProperties> breakpoint = getLineBreakpoint(breakPosition);
     ErlangSuspendContext suspendContext = new ErlangSuspendContext(this, pid, snapshots);