diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Operation/VersionTag.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Operation/VersionTag.pm
index fff665d9a..06523a8dd 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Operation/VersionTag.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Operation/VersionTag.pm
@@ -243,10 +243,10 @@ sub www_commitVersionTagConfirm {
 		if (defined $tag && $session->user->isInGroup($tag->get("groupToUse"))) {
 			my $i18n = WebGUI::International->new($session, "VersionTag");
 			$tag->set({comments=>$session->form->process("comments", "textarea")});
-            eval { $tag->requestCommit; };
+            my $message = $tag->requestCommit;
             my $error = "";
-            if ($@) {
-                 $error .= $i18n->get("bad commit")." ".$@; 
+            if ($message) {
+                 $error .= $i18n->get("bad commit")." ".$message;
             }
         	my $ac = WebGUI::AdminConsole->new($session,"versions");
 			my $default = WebGUI::Asset->getDefault($session);
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/VersionTag.pm b/lib/WebGUI/VersionTag.pm
index 2483c6617..5ec7a969e 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/VersionTag.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/VersionTag.pm
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ package WebGUI::VersionTag;
 =cut
 
 use strict;
-use Carp qw(carp);
 use WebGUI::Asset;
 use WebGUI::Workflow::Instance;
 
@@ -384,8 +383,8 @@ sub new {
 
 =head2 requestCommit ( )
 
-Locks the version tag and then kicks off the approval/commit workflow for it. A carp is thrown if workflow is
-realtime and fails.
+Locks the version tag and then kicks off the approval/commit workflow for it.  Returns an error message if it
+fails.
 
 =cut
 
@@ -411,7 +410,7 @@ sub requestCommit {
             my $errorMessage = "Realtime workflow instance ".$instance->getId." returned status ".$status." where
                 'done' was expected";
             $self->session->errorHandler->warn($errorMessage);
-            carp $errorMessage;
+            return $errorMessage;
         }
     }
 }