diff --git a/pulp_deb/app/tasks/synchronizing.py b/pulp_deb/app/tasks/synchronizing.py
index aa95f29b7..3ee18c6c1 100644
--- a/pulp_deb/app/tasks/synchronizing.py
+++ b/pulp_deb/app/tasks/synchronizing.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.db.utils import IntegrityError
 
-from pulpcore.plugin.exceptions import DigestValidationError
+from pulpcore.plugin.exceptions import DigestValidationError, PulpException
 from rest_framework.exceptions import ValidationError
 
 
@@ -80,11 +80,32 @@
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-class NoReleaseFile(Exception):
+class DebException(PulpException):
+    """
+    Base class for expected sync failures.
+    """
+
+    error_code = "DEB0000"
+
+    def __init__(self, message, details=None):
+        try:
+            super().__init__()
+        except TypeError:
+            super().__init__(self.error_code)
+        self.message = message
+        self.details = details
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return f"[{self.error_code}] {self.message}"
+
+
+class NoReleaseFile(DebException):
     """
     Exception to signal, that no file representing a release is present.
     """
 
+    error_code = "DEB0001"
+
     def __init__(self, url, *args, **kwargs):
         """
         Exception to signal, that no file representing a release is present.
@@ -92,32 +113,32 @@ def __init__(self, url, *args, **kwargs):
         super().__init__(
             "Could not find a Release file at '{}', try checking the 'url' and "
             "'distributions' option on your remote".format(url),
-            *args,
-            **kwargs,
         )
 
 
-class NoValidSignatureForKey(Exception):
+class NoValidSignatureForKey(DebException):
     """
     Exception to signal, that verification of release file with provided GPG key fails.
     """
 
+    error_code = "DEB0002"
+
     def __init__(self, url, *args, **kwargs):
         """
         Exception to signal, that verification of release file with provided GPG key fails.
         """
         super().__init__(
             "Unable to verify any Release files from '{}' using the GPG key provided.".format(url),
-            *args,
-            **kwargs,
         )
 
 
-class NoPackageIndexFile(Exception):
+class NoPackageIndexFile(DebException):
     """
     Exception to signal, that no file representing a package index is present.
     """
 
+    error_code = "DEB0003"
+
     def __init__(self, relative_dir, *args, **kwargs):
         """
         Exception to signal, that no file representing a package index is present.
@@ -129,31 +150,33 @@ def __init__(self, relative_dir, *args, **kwargs):
             "(ignore_missing_package_indices='True') or system wide "
             "(FORCE_IGNORE_MISSING_PACKAGE_INDICES setting)."
         )
-        super().__init__(_(message).format(relative_dir), *args, **kwargs)
-
-    pass
+        super().__init__(_(message).format(relative_dir))
 
 
-class MissingReleaseFileField(Exception):
+class MissingReleaseFileField(DebException):
     """
     Exception signifying that the upstream release file is missing a required field.
     """
 
+    error_code = "DEB0004"
+
     def __init__(self, distribution, field, *args, **kwargs):
         """
         The upstream release file is missing a required field.
         """
         message = "The release file for distribution '{}' is missing the required field '{}'."
-        super().__init__(_(message).format(distribution, field), *args, **kwargs)
+        super().__init__(_(message).format(distribution, field))
 
 
-class UnknownNoSupportForArchitectureAllValue(Exception):
+class UnknownNoSupportForArchitectureAllValue(DebException):
     """
     Exception Signifying that the Release file contains the 'No-Support-for-Architecture-all' field,
     but with a value other than 'Packages'. We interpret this as an error since this would likely
     signify some unknown repo format, that pulp_deb is more likely to get wrong than right!
     """
 
+    error_code = "DEB0005"
+
     def __init__(self, release_file_path, unknown_value, *args, **kwargs):
         message = (
             "The Release file at '{}' contains the 'No-Support-for-Architecture-all' field, with "
@@ -161,9 +184,7 @@ def __init__(self, release_file_path, unknown_value, *args, **kwargs):
             "this field, please open an issue at https://github.com/pulp/pulp_deb/issues "
             "specifying the remote you are attempting to sync, so that we can improve pulp_deb!"
         )
-        super().__init__(_(message).format(unknown_value), *args, **kwargs)
-
-    pass
+        super().__init__(_(message).format(release_file_path, unknown_value))
 
 
 def synchronize(remote_pk, repository_pk, mirror, optimize):
diff --git a/pulp_deb/tests/functional/api/test_duplicate_packages.py b/pulp_deb/tests/functional/api/test_duplicate_packages.py
index ea0fba8d6..e25aceb6b 100644
--- a/pulp_deb/tests/functional/api/test_duplicate_packages.py
+++ b/pulp_deb/tests/functional/api/test_duplicate_packages.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 from pulp_deb.tests.functional.utils import (
     get_counts_from_content_summary,
     get_local_package_absolute_path,
+    get_task_error_message,
 )
 
 DUPLICATE_PACKAGE_DIR = "data/packages/duplicates/"  # below pulp_deb/tests/functional/
@@ -132,6 +133,5 @@ def test_add_duplicates_to_repo(
         deb_modify_repository(repository, {"add_content_units": [href1, href2]})
 
     # Assert the error message.
-    assert "Cannot create repository version since there are newly added packages with" in str(
-        exception.value.task.error["description"]
-    )
+    msg = get_task_error_message(exception.value.task.error)
+    assert "Cannot create repository version since there are newly added packages with" in msg
diff --git a/pulp_deb/tests/functional/api/test_sync.py b/pulp_deb/tests/functional/api/test_sync.py
index 10255a418..a58ae1d42 100644
--- a/pulp_deb/tests/functional/api/test_sync.py
+++ b/pulp_deb/tests/functional/api/test_sync.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
     DEB_REPORT_CODE_SKIP_COMPLETE,
     DEB_SIGNING_KEY,
 )
-from pulp_deb.tests.functional.utils import get_counts_from_content_summary
+from pulp_deb.tests.functional.utils import get_counts_from_content_summary, get_task_error_message
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parallel
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ def test_sync_missing_package_indices(
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "repo_name, remote_args, expected",
     [
-        ("http://i-am-an-invalid-url.com/invalid/", {}, ["Cannot connect"]),
+        ("http://i-am-an-invalid-url.com/invalid/", {}, ["cannot connect"]),
         (
             DEB_FIXTURE_STANDARD_REPOSITORY_NAME,
             {"distributions": "no_dist"},
@@ -162,8 +162,9 @@ def test_sync_invalid_cases(
     # Verify a PulpTaskError is raised and the error message is as expected
     with pytest.raises(PulpTaskError) as exc:
         deb_sync_repository(remote, repo)
+    msg = get_task_error_message(exc.value.task.error).lower()
     for exp in expected:
-        assert exp in str(exc.value.task.error["description"])
+        assert exp.lower() in msg
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parallel
diff --git a/pulp_deb/tests/functional/utils.py b/pulp_deb/tests/functional/utils.py
index 40d883ef6..8e19fdbdb 100644
--- a/pulp_deb/tests/functional/utils.py
+++ b/pulp_deb/tests/functional/utils.py
@@ -109,3 +109,9 @@ def get_counts_from_content_summary(content_summary):
     for key in content:
         content[key] = content[key]["count"]
     return content
+
+
+def get_task_error_message(error):
+    if not error:
+        return ""
+    return str(error.get("description") or error.get("detail") or error.get("message") or error)