diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/io/Streamer.java b/src/java/com/threerings/io/Streamer.java
index c362e138f..0a3975d49 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/io/Streamer.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/io/Streamer.java
@@ -423,12 +423,20 @@ public class Streamer
         _target = target;
 
         // if this is a non-anonymous inner class, freak out because we cannot stream those
-        if (_target.isLocalClass() || _target.isAnonymousClass() ||
-            (_target.isMemberClass() && !Modifier.isStatic(_target.getModifiers()))) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
-                "Cannot stream non-static inner class: " + _target.getName());
+        try {
+            if (_target.isLocalClass() || _target.isAnonymousClass() ||
+                (_target.isMemberClass() && !Modifier.isStatic(_target.getModifiers()))) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                    "Cannot stream non-static inner class: " + _target.getName());
+            }
+        } catch (InternalError ie) {
+            // The checks on the class's localness are capable of throwing these.  If we do, let's
+            //  give better errors than the ones the JVM is willing to give.
+            log.warning("Internal error in checking localness of class: " +
+                "[class=" + _target.getName() + "]");
+            throw ie;
         }
-
+        
         // if our target class is an array, we want to get a handle on a streamer delegate that
         // we'll use to stream our elements
         if (_target.isArray()) {