diff --git a/TShockAPI/Commands.cs b/TShockAPI/Commands.cs
index d0c3b48a..c3c7090d 100644
--- a/TShockAPI/Commands.cs
+++ b/TShockAPI/Commands.cs
@@ -825,9 +825,9 @@ namespace TShockAPI
 				{
 					var group = TShock.Groups.GetGroupByName(account.Group);
 
-					if (group == null)
+					if (!TShock.Utils.AssertGroupValid(args.Player, group, false))
 					{
-						args.Player.SendErrorMessage("Login failed: The account references a group that doesn't exist.");
+						args.Player.SendErrorMessage("Login attempt failed - see the message above.");
 						return;
 					}
 
diff --git a/TShockAPI/GetDataHandlers.cs b/TShockAPI/GetDataHandlers.cs
index b90f6fe1..bc5f2175 100644
--- a/TShockAPI/GetDataHandlers.cs
+++ b/TShockAPI/GetDataHandlers.cs
@@ -2452,7 +2452,7 @@ namespace TShockAPI
 
 					var group = TShock.Groups.GetGroupByName(account.Group);
 
-					if (!TShock.Utils.AssertGroupValid(args.Player, group))
+					if (!TShock.Utils.AssertGroupValid(args.Player, group, true))
 						return true;
 
 					args.Player.PlayerData = TShock.CharacterDB.GetPlayerData(args.Player, account.ID);
@@ -3007,7 +3007,7 @@ namespace TShockAPI
 
 					var group = TShock.Groups.GetGroupByName(account.Group);
 
-					if (!TShock.Utils.AssertGroupValid(args.Player, group))
+					if (!TShock.Utils.AssertGroupValid(args.Player, group, true))
 						return true;
 
 					args.Player.Group = group;
diff --git a/TShockAPI/Utils.cs b/TShockAPI/Utils.cs
index be3722df..aad127dc 100644
--- a/TShockAPI/Utils.cs
+++ b/TShockAPI/Utils.cs
@@ -214,15 +214,19 @@ namespace TShockAPI
 
 		/// <summary>
 		/// Asserts that the group reference can be safely assigned to the player object.
+		/// <para>If this assertion fails, and <paramref name="kick"/> is true, the player is disconnected. If <paramref name="kick"/> is false, the player will receive an error message.</para>
 		/// </summary>
 		/// <param name="player"></param>
 		/// <param name="group"></param>
 		/// <returns></returns>
-		public bool AssertGroupValid(TSPlayer player, Group group)
+		public bool AssertGroupValid(TSPlayer player, Group group, bool kick)
         {
 			if (group == null)
 			{
-				player.Disconnect("Your account's group could not be found. Please contact server administrators about this.");
+				if (kick)
+					player.Disconnect("Your account's group could not be loaded. Please contact server administrators about this.");
+				else
+					player.SendErrorMessage("Your account's group could not be loaded. Please contact server administrators about this.");
 				return false;
 			}