diff --git a/lib/errors.ts b/lib/errors.ts
index ac040242..3f39136b 100644
--- a/lib/errors.ts
+++ b/lib/errors.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
+import { BalenaError } from 'balena-errors';
 import { stripIndent } from 'common-tags';
 import * as _ from 'lodash';
 import * as os from 'os';
@@ -149,18 +150,12 @@ async function getSentry() {
 	return await import('@sentry/node');
 }
 
-export async function handleError(error: any) {
+export async function handleError(error: Error) {
 	// Set appropriate exitCode
 	process.exitCode =
-		error.exitCode === 0
+		(error as BalenaError).exitCode === 0
 			? 0
-			: parseInt(error.exitCode, 10) || process.exitCode || 1;
-
-	// Handle non-Error objects (probably strings)
-	if (!(error instanceof Error)) {
-		ErrorsModule.printErrorMessage(String(error));
-		return;
-	}
+			: Math.trunc((error as BalenaError).exitCode) || process.exitCode || 1;
 
 	// Prepare message
 	const message = [interpret(error)];
@@ -173,7 +168,7 @@ export async function handleError(error: any) {
 	const isExpectedError =
 		error instanceof ExpectedError ||
 		EXPECTED_ERROR_REGEXES.some(re => re.test(message[0])) ||
-		EXPECTED_ERROR_REGEXES.some(re => re.test((error as any).code));
+		EXPECTED_ERROR_REGEXES.some(re => re.test((error as BalenaError).code));
 
 	// Output/report error
 	if (isExpectedError) {
diff --git a/tests/errors.spec.ts b/tests/errors.spec.ts
index 589055f7..ec756201 100644
--- a/tests/errors.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/errors.spec.ts
@@ -59,19 +59,6 @@ describe('handleError() function', () => {
 		sandbox.restore();
 	});
 
-	it('should call printErrorMessage and exit when passed a string', async () => {
-		const errorString = 'a string';
-
-		await ErrorsModule.handleError(errorString);
-
-		expect(printErrorMessage.calledOnce).to.be.true;
-		expect(printErrorMessage.getCall(0).args[0]).to.equal(errorString);
-
-		expect(printExpectedErrorMessage.notCalled).to.be.true;
-		expect(captureException.notCalled).to.be.true;
-		expect(processExit.notCalled).to.be.true;
-	});
-
 	it('should process ExpectedErrors as expected', async () => {
 		const errorMessage = 'an expected error';
 		const error = new ErrorsModule.ExpectedError(errorMessage);