diff --git a/swh/model/cli.py b/swh/model/cli.py
index 9e0471a..7d018d6 100644
--- a/swh/model/cli.py
+++ b/swh/model/cli.py
@@ -1,96 +1,95 @@
 # Copyright (C) 2018  The Software Heritage developers
 # See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
 # License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
 
 import click
 import os
 import sys
 
 from swh.model import identifiers as pids
 from swh.model.from_disk import Content, Directory
+from swh.model.identifiers import SWHMalformedIdentifierException
 
 
 class PidParamType(click.ParamType):
     name = 'persistent identifier'
 
     def convert(self, value, param, ctx):
         try:
-            _parsed_pid = pids.parse_persistent_identifier(value)  # noqa
+            pids.parse_persistent_identifier(value)
             return value  # return as string, as we need just that
-        except Exception:
-            # TODO catch more specific parsing exception. Requires
-            # https://forge.softwareheritage.org/T1104 to be addressed first.
-            self.fail('%s is not a valid PID' % value, param, ctx)
+        except SWHMalformedIdentifierException as e:
+            self.fail('%s is not a valid PID. %s.' % (value, e), param, ctx)
 
 
 def pid_of_file(path):
     object = Content.from_file(path=path).get_data()
     return pids.persistent_identifier(pids.CONTENT, object)
 
 
 def pid_of_dir(path):
     object = Directory.from_disk(path=path).get_data()
     return pids.persistent_identifier(pids.DIRECTORY, object)
 
 
 @click.command()
 @click.option('--type', '-t', default='auto',
               type=click.Choice(['auto', 'content', 'directory']),
               help='type of object to identify (default: auto)')
 @click.option('--verify', '-v', metavar='PID', type=PidParamType(),
               help='reference identifier to be compared with computed one')
 @click.argument('object',
                 type=click.Path(exists=True, readable=True,
                                 allow_dash=True, path_type=bytes))
 def identify(type, verify, object):
     """Compute the Software Heritage persistent identifier (PID) for a given
     source code object.
 
     For more details about Software Heritage PIDs see:
 
     \b
     https://docs.softwareheritage.org/devel/swh-model/persistent-identifiers.html
 
     \b
     Examples:
 
     \b
       $ swh-identify /usr/src/linux/kernel/
       swh:1:dir:f9f858a48d663b3809c9e2f336412717496202ab
 
     \b
       $ swh-identify /usr/src/linux/kernel/sched/deadline.c
       swh:1:cnt:57b939c81bce5d06fa587df8915f05affbe22b82
 
     """
     if type == 'auto':
         if os.path.isfile(object):
             type = 'content'
         elif os.path.isdir(object):
             type = 'directory'
         else:  # shouldn't happen, due to path validation
             raise click.BadParameter('%s is neither a file nor a directory' %
                                      object)
 
     pid = None
     if type == 'content':
         pid = pid_of_file(object)
     elif type == 'directory':
         pid = pid_of_dir(object)
     else:  # shouldn't happen, due to option validation
         raise click.BadParameter('invalid object type: ' + type)
 
     if verify:
         if verify == pid:
             click.echo('PID match: %s' % pid)
             sys.exit(0)
         else:
             click.echo('PID mismatch: %s != %s' % (verify, pid))
             sys.exit(1)
     else:
         click.echo(pid)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     identify()