diff --git a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/parse_manifest.c b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/parse_manifest.c
index 3b13ae5b84..c7ccc78c70 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/parse_manifest.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/parse_manifest.c
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ json_parse_manifest(JsonManifestParseContext *context, char *buffer,
 	/* Run the actual JSON parser. */
 	json_error = pg_parse_json(lex, &sem);
 	if (json_error != JSON_SUCCESS)
-		json_manifest_parse_failure(context, json_errdetail(json_error, lex));
+		json_manifest_parse_failure(context, "parsing failed");
 	if (parse.state != JM_EXPECT_EOF)
 		json_manifest_parse_failure(context, "manifest ended unexpectedly");
 
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/005_bad_manifest.pl b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/005_bad_manifest.pl
index 9f8a100a71..4f5b8f5a49 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/005_bad_manifest.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pg_verifybackup/t/005_bad_manifest.pl
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ my $tempdir = TestLib::tempdir;
 
 test_bad_manifest(
 	'input string ended unexpectedly',
-	qr/could not parse backup manifest: The input string ended unexpectedly/,
+	qr/could not parse backup manifest: parsing failed/,
 	<<EOM);
 {
 EOM
diff --git a/src/common/jsonapi.c b/src/common/jsonapi.c
index d376ab152d..5504072b4f 100644
--- a/src/common/jsonapi.c
+++ b/src/common/jsonapi.c
@@ -20,20 +20,10 @@
 #include "common/jsonapi.h"
 #include "mb/pg_wchar.h"
 
-#ifdef FRONTEND
-#include "common/logging.h"
-#else
+#ifndef FRONTEND
 #include "miscadmin.h"
 #endif
 
-#ifdef FRONTEND
-#define check_stack_depth()
-#define json_log_and_abort(...) \
-	do { pg_log_fatal(__VA_ARGS__); exit(1); } while(0)
-#else
-#define json_log_and_abort(...) elog(ERROR, __VA_ARGS__)
-#endif
-
 /*
  * The context of the parser is maintained by the recursive descent
  * mechanism, but is passed explicitly to the error reporting routine
@@ -61,7 +51,6 @@ static JsonParseErrorType parse_object(JsonLexContext *lex, JsonSemAction *sem);
 static JsonParseErrorType parse_array_element(JsonLexContext *lex, JsonSemAction *sem);
 static JsonParseErrorType parse_array(JsonLexContext *lex, JsonSemAction *sem);
 static JsonParseErrorType report_parse_error(JsonParseContext ctx, JsonLexContext *lex);
-static char *extract_token(JsonLexContext *lex);
 
 /* the null action object used for pure validation */
 JsonSemAction nullSemAction =
@@ -378,7 +367,9 @@ parse_object(JsonLexContext *lex, JsonSemAction *sem)
 	JsonTokenType tok;
 	JsonParseErrorType result;
 
+#ifndef FRONTEND
 	check_stack_depth();
+#endif
 
 	if (ostart != NULL)
 		(*ostart) (sem->semstate);
@@ -478,7 +469,9 @@ parse_array(JsonLexContext *lex, JsonSemAction *sem)
 	json_struct_action aend = sem->array_end;
 	JsonParseErrorType result;
 
+#ifndef FRONTEND
 	check_stack_depth();
+#endif
 
 	if (astart != NULL)
 		(*astart) (sem->semstate);
@@ -1044,15 +1037,34 @@ report_parse_error(JsonParseContext ctx, JsonLexContext *lex)
 
 	/*
 	 * We don't use a default: case, so that the compiler will warn about
-	 * unhandled enum values.  But this needs to be here anyway to cover the
-	 * possibility of an incorrect input.
+	 * unhandled enum values.
 	 */
-	json_log_and_abort("unexpected json parse state: %d", (int) ctx);
+	Assert(false);
 	return JSON_SUCCESS;		/* silence stupider compilers */
 }
 
+
+#ifndef FRONTEND
+/*
+ * Extract the current token from a lexing context, for error reporting.
+ */
+static char *
+extract_token(JsonLexContext *lex)
+{
+	int			toklen = lex->token_terminator - lex->token_start;
+	char	   *token = palloc(toklen + 1);
+
+	memcpy(token, lex->token_start, toklen);
+	token[toklen] = '\0';
+	return token;
+}
+
 /*
  * Construct a detail message for a JSON error.
+ *
+ * Note that the error message generated by this routine may not be
+ * palloc'd, making it unsafe for frontend code as there is no way to
+ * know if this can be safery pfree'd or not.
  */
 char *
 json_errdetail(JsonParseErrorType error, JsonLexContext *lex)
@@ -1115,20 +1127,7 @@ json_errdetail(JsonParseErrorType error, JsonLexContext *lex)
 	 * unhandled enum values.  But this needs to be here anyway to cover the
 	 * possibility of an incorrect input.
 	 */
-	json_log_and_abort("unexpected json parse error type: %d", (int) error);
-	return NULL;				/* silence stupider compilers */
-}
-
-/*
- * Extract the current token from a lexing context, for error reporting.
- */
-static char *
-extract_token(JsonLexContext *lex)
-{
-	int			toklen = lex->token_terminator - lex->token_start;
-	char	   *token = palloc(toklen + 1);
-
-	memcpy(token, lex->token_start, toklen);
-	token[toklen] = '\0';
-	return token;
+	elog(ERROR, "unexpected json parse error type: %d", (int) error);
+	return NULL;
 }
+#endif