diff --git a/sqlite_utils/cli.py b/sqlite_utils/cli.py
index 5f81a1e..4d888ef 100644
--- a/sqlite_utils/cli.py
+++ b/sqlite_utils/cli.py
@@ -654,12 +654,19 @@ def insert_upsert_implementation(
             reader = csv_std.reader(json_file, dialect=dialect)
             headers = next(reader)
             docs = (dict(zip(headers, row)) for row in reader)
-    elif nl:
-        docs = (json.loads(line) for line in json_file)
     else:
-        docs = json.load(json_file)
-        if isinstance(docs, dict):
-            docs = [docs]
+        try:
+            if nl:
+                docs = (json.loads(line) for line in json_file)
+            else:
+                docs = json.load(json_file)
+                if isinstance(docs, dict):
+                    docs = [docs]
+        except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError:
+            raise click.ClickException(
+                "Invalid JSON - use --csv for CSV or --tsv for TSV files"
+            )
+
     extra_kwargs = {"ignore": ignore, "replace": replace, "truncate": truncate}
     if not_null:
         extra_kwargs["not_null"] = set(not_null)
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 59770c3..381997b 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -584,6 +584,20 @@ def test_insert_from_stdin(tmpdir):
     )
 
 
+def test_insert_invalid_json_error(tmpdir):
+    db_path = str(tmpdir / "dogs.db")
+    result = CliRunner().invoke(
+        cli.cli,
+        ["insert", db_path, "dogs", "-"],
+        input="name,age\nCleo,4",
+    )
+    assert result.exit_code == 1
+    assert (
+        result.output
+        == "Error: Invalid JSON - use --csv for CSV or --tsv for TSV files\n"
+    )
+
+
 def test_insert_with_primary_key(db_path, tmpdir):
     json_path = str(tmpdir / "dog.json")
     open(json_path, "w").write(json.dumps({"id": 1, "name": "Cleo", "age": 4}))