diff --git a/Koha/BackgroundJob/ErmSushiHarvester.pm b/Koha/BackgroundJob/ErmSushiHarvester.pm
index 8d3e8c11c8..5dadc0b60f 100644
--- a/Koha/BackgroundJob/ErmSushiHarvester.pm
+++ b/Koha/BackgroundJob/ErmSushiHarvester.pm
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ sub set_job_size {
             type => 'success', # success, warning or error
             code => 'object_added', # object_added or object_already_exists
             title => $row->{Title},
+            message => 'message',
         }
     );
 
diff --git a/Koha/ERM/EUsage/UsageDataProvider.pm b/Koha/ERM/EUsage/UsageDataProvider.pm
index 0f23a9367f..b956b09382 100644
--- a/Koha/ERM/EUsage/UsageDataProvider.pm
+++ b/Koha/ERM/EUsage/UsageDataProvider.pm
@@ -215,11 +215,17 @@ sub harvest_sushi {
         return;
     }
 
+    my $decoded_response = decode_json( $response->decoded_content );
+
+    return if $self->_sushi_errors($decoded_response);
+
     # Parse the SUSHI response
     my $sushi_counter =
-        Koha::ERM::EUsage::SushiCounter->new( { response => decode_json( $response->decoded_content ) } );
+        Koha::ERM::EUsage::SushiCounter->new( { response => $decoded_response } );
     my $counter_file = $sushi_counter->get_COUNTER_from_SUSHI;
 
+    return if $self->_counter_file_size_too_large($counter_file);
+
     $self->counter_files( 
         [
             { 
@@ -440,6 +446,77 @@ sub _check_trailing_character {
     return $url;
 }
 
+=head3 _sushi_errors
+
+Checks and handles possible errors in the SUSHI response
+Additionally, adds background job report message(s) if that is the case
+
+=cut
+
+sub _sushi_errors {
+    my ( $self, $decoded_response ) = @_;
+
+    if ( $decoded_response->{Severity} ) {
+        $self->{job_callbacks}->{add_message_callback}->(
+            {
+                type    => 'error',
+                code    => $decoded_response->{Code},
+                message => $decoded_response->{Severity} . ' - ' . $decoded_response->{Message},
+            }
+        ) if $self->{job_callbacks};
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    if ( $decoded_response->{Report_Header}->{Exceptions} ) {
+        foreach my $exception ( @{ $decoded_response->{Report_Header}->{Exceptions} } ) {
+            $self->{job_callbacks}->{add_message_callback}->(
+                {
+                    type    => 'error',
+                    code    => $exception->{Code},
+                    message => $exception->{Message} . ' - ' . $exception->{Data},
+                }
+            ) if $self->{job_callbacks};
+        }
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    if ( scalar @{ $decoded_response->{Report_Items} } == 0 ) {
+        $self->{job_callbacks}->{add_message_callback}->(
+            {
+                type => 'error',
+                code => 'no_items',
+            }
+        ) if $self->{job_callbacks};
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+=head3 _counter_file_size_too_large
+
+Checks whether a counter file size exceeds the size allowed by the database or not
+Additionally, adds a background job report message if that is the case
+
+=cut
+
+sub _counter_file_size_too_large {
+    my ( $self, $counter_file ) = @_;
+
+    my $max_allowed_packet = C4::Context->dbh->selectrow_array(q{SELECT @@max_allowed_packet});
+    if ( length($counter_file) > $max_allowed_packet ) {
+        $self->{job_callbacks}->{add_message_callback}->(
+            {
+                type    => 'error',
+                code    => 'payload_too_large',
+                message => $max_allowed_packet / 1024 / 1024,
+            }
+        ) if $self->{job_callbacks};
+        return 1;
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
+
 =head3 _type
 
 =cut
diff --git a/Koha/REST/V1/ERM/EUsage/UsageDataProviders.pm b/Koha/REST/V1/ERM/EUsage/UsageDataProviders.pm
index 8f93299334..e05b529d4e 100644
--- a/Koha/REST/V1/ERM/EUsage/UsageDataProviders.pm
+++ b/Koha/REST/V1/ERM/EUsage/UsageDataProviders.pm
@@ -313,6 +313,10 @@ sub process_COUNTER_file {
                     ? decode_base64( $body->{file_content} )
                     : "";
 
+                my $max_allowed_packet = C4::Context->dbh->selectrow_array(q{SELECT @@max_allowed_packet});
+                Koha::Exceptions::PayloadTooLarge->throw("File size exceeds limit defined by server")
+                    if length($file_content) > $max_allowed_packet;
+
                 # Validate the file_content without storing, it'll throw an exception if fail
                 my $counter_file_validation = Koha::ERM::EUsage::CounterFile->new( { file_content => $file_content } );
                 $counter_file_validation->validate;
@@ -356,7 +360,7 @@ sub process_COUNTER_file {
             } elsif ( $_->isa('Koha::Exceptions::PayloadTooLarge') ) {
                 return $c->render(
                     status  => 413,
-                    openapi => { error => $_->error }
+                    openapi => { error => $_->description }
                 );
             } elsif ( $_->isa('Koha::Exceptions::ERM::EUsage::CounterFile::UnsupportedRelease') ) {
                 return $c->render(
diff --git a/api/v1/swagger/paths/erm_usage_data_providers.yaml b/api/v1/swagger/paths/erm_usage_data_providers.yaml
index 4f034ef0d2..f244d8b138 100644
--- a/api/v1/swagger/paths/erm_usage_data_providers.yaml
+++ b/api/v1/swagger/paths/erm_usage_data_providers.yaml
@@ -437,6 +437,10 @@
         description: Access forbidden
         schema:
           $ref: "../swagger.yaml#/definitions/error"
+      413:
+        description: Payload too large
+        schema:
+          $ref: "../swagger.yaml#/definitions/error"
       500:
         description: |-
           Internal server error. Possible `error_code` attribute values:
diff --git a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/includes/background_jobs/erm_sushi_harvester.inc b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/includes/background_jobs/erm_sushi_harvester.inc
index 9670e8f321..e52fa732b4 100644
--- a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/includes/background_jobs/erm_sushi_harvester.inc
+++ b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/includes/background_jobs/erm_sushi_harvester.inc
@@ -84,12 +84,20 @@
                 <i class="fa fa-exclamation error"></i>
             [% END %]
             [% SWITCH m.code %]
-            [% CASE 'object_already_exists' %]
-                <span><strong>[% m.title %]</strong> already exists in this data provider and was not created. New usage statistics were verified anyway</span>
-            [% CASE 'object_added' %]
-                <span><strong>[% m.title %]</strong> successfully added</span>
-            [% CASE 'object_could_not_be_added' %]
-                <span><strong>[% m.title %]</strong> could not be processed - please check the logs</span>
+                [% CASE 'object_already_exists' %]
+                    <span><strong>[% m.title %]</strong> already exists in this data provider and was not created. New usage statistics were verified anyway</span>
+                [% CASE 'object_added' %]
+                    <span><strong>[% m.title %]</strong> successfully added</span>
+                [% CASE 'object_could_not_be_added' %]
+                    <span><strong>[% m.title %]</strong> could not be processed - please check the logs</span>
+                [% CASE 'payload_too_large' %]
+                    <span>COUNTER report file size exceeds limit defined by the database. Limit is [% m.message %] MB.</span><br>
+                    <span>Please increase this limit or harvest a shorter period.</span>
+                [% CASE 'no_items' %]
+                    <span>SUSHI response returned no items.</span><br>
+                    <span>Please try a different harvest period.</span>
+                [% CASE %]
+                    <span>SUSHI returned: [% m.message %] [% m.code %]</span>
             [% END %]
         </div>
     [% END %]