diff --git a/contrib/for-tests/netexec/Makefile b/contrib/for-tests/netexec/Makefile
index 73c540e6df6..57098585af3 100644
--- a/contrib/for-tests/netexec/Makefile
+++ b/contrib/for-tests/netexec/Makefile
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 .PHONY: all netexec image push clean
 
-TAG = 1.0
+TAG = 1.1
 PREFIX = gcr.io/google_containers
 
 all: push
 
-TAG = 1.0
-
 netexec: netexec.go
 	CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux go build -a -installsuffix cgo -ldflags '-w' ./netexec.go
 
diff --git a/contrib/for-tests/netexec/netexec.go b/contrib/for-tests/netexec/netexec.go
index 92bd75f7f77..cfca4a12971 100644
--- a/contrib/for-tests/netexec/netexec.go
+++ b/contrib/for-tests/netexec/netexec.go
@@ -191,9 +191,20 @@ func dialUDP(request string, remoteAddress *net.UDPAddr) (string, error) {
 
 func shellHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	log.Println(r.FormValue("shellCommand"))
-	output, err := exec.Command(shellPath, "-c", r.FormValue("shellCommand")).CombinedOutput()
-	assertNoError(err)
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, string(output))
+	cmdOut, err := exec.Command(shellPath, "-c", r.FormValue("shellCommand")).CombinedOutput()
+	output := map[string]string{}
+	if len(cmdOut) > 0 {
+		output["output"] = string(cmdOut)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		output["error"] = fmt.Sprintf("%v", err)
+	}
+	bytes, err := json.Marshal(output)
+	if err == nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(w, string(bytes))
+	} else {
+		http.Error(w, fmt.Sprintf("response could not be serialized. %v", err), http.StatusExpectationFailed)
+	}
 }
 
 func hostNameHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {