diff --git a/.travis.sh b/.travis.sh
index 84537fcc..7b6c0f55 100755
--- a/.travis.sh
+++ b/.travis.sh
@@ -20,7 +20,14 @@ F8_SETUP=$?
 flake8 gssapi
 F8_PY=$?
 
-flake8 gssapi --filename='*.pyx,*.pxd' --ignore=E225,E226,E227,E901,E402
+# Cython requires special flags since it is not proper Python
+# E225: missing whitespace around operator
+# E226: missing whitespace around arithmetic operator
+# E227: missing whitespace around bitwise or shift operator
+# E402: module level import not at top of file
+# E901: SyntaxError or IndentationError
+# E999: Internal AST compilation error (flake8 specific)
+flake8 gssapi --filename='*.pyx,*.pxd' --ignore=E225,E226,E227,E402,E901,E999
 F8_MAIN_CYTHON=$?
 
 python setup.py nosetests --verbosity=3
diff --git a/gssapi/raw/misc.pyx b/gssapi/raw/misc.pyx
index e278c4b9..4ea0c557 100644
--- a/gssapi/raw/misc.pyx
+++ b/gssapi/raw/misc.pyx
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ def _display_status(unsigned int error_code, bint is_major_code,
             whether or not to call again for further messages
 
     Raises:
-       GSSError
+       ValueError
     """
 
     cdef int status_type
@@ -165,13 +165,16 @@ def _display_status(unsigned int error_code, bint is_major_code,
 
     if maj_stat == GSS_S_COMPLETE:
         call_again = bool(msg_ctx_out)
-
         msg_out = msg_buff.value[:msg_buff.length]
         gss_release_buffer(&min_stat, &msg_buff)
         return (msg_out, msg_ctx_out, call_again)
     else:
-        # NB(directxman12): this is highly unlikely to cause a recursive loop
-        raise GSSError(maj_stat, min_stat)
+        # This hides whatever error gss_display_status is complaining about,
+        # but obviates infinite recursion into stack exhaustion.  The
+        # exception raised here is handled by get_all_statuses(), which prints
+        # the code.
+        raise ValueError("gss_display_status call returned failure "
+                         "(major {0}, minor {1}).".format(maj_stat, min_stat))
 
 
 class GSSErrorRegistry(type):
@@ -294,8 +297,8 @@ class GSSError(Exception, metaclass=GSSErrorRegistry):
         try:
             msg, ctx, cont = _display_status(code, is_maj)
             res.append(msg.decode(msg_encoding))
-        except GSSError:
-            res.append(u'issue decoding code: {0}'.format(code))
+        except ValueError as e:
+            res.append(u'{0}  Decoding code: {1}'.format(e, code))
             cont = False
 
         while cont:
@@ -303,9 +306,8 @@ class GSSError(Exception, metaclass=GSSErrorRegistry):
                 msg, ctx, cont = _display_status(code, is_maj,
                                                  message_context=ctx)
                 res.append(msg.decode(msg_encoding))
-            except GSSError:
-                res.append(u'issue decoding '
-                           u'code: {0}'.format(code))
+            except ValueError:
+                res.append(u'{0}  Decoding code: {1}'.format(e, code))
                 cont = False
 
         return res
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a380a110..d10dd96f 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@ def gssapi_modules(lst):
 
     return res
 
+
 long_desc = re.sub('\.\. role:: \w+\(code\)\s*\n\s*.+', '',
                    re.sub(r':(python|bash|code):', '',
                           re.sub(r'\.\. code-block:: \w+', '::',