diff --git a/doc/utils/converters/lammpsdoc/txt2html.py b/doc/utils/converters/lammpsdoc/txt2html.py
index 6e559723b4..79a75d72f6 100755
--- a/doc/utils/converters/lammpsdoc/txt2html.py
+++ b/doc/utils/converters/lammpsdoc/txt2html.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import re
 import sys
 import argparse
 
+
 class Markup(object):
     BOLD_START = "["
     BOLD_END = "]"
@@ -77,6 +78,7 @@ class Markup(object):
             text = text.replace('\"%s\"_%s' % (name, link), href, 1)
         return text
 
+
 class HTMLMarkup(Markup):
     def __init__(self):
         super().__init__()
@@ -101,6 +103,7 @@ class HTMLMarkup(Markup):
 
         return "<A HREF = \"" + href + "\">" + content + "</A>"
 
+
 class Formatting(object):
     UNORDERED_LIST_MODE = "unordered-list"
     ORDERED_LIST_MODE = "ordered-list"
@@ -435,6 +438,7 @@ class Formatting(object):
 
         return rows
 
+
 class HTMLFormatting(Formatting):
     def __init__(self, markup):
         super().__init__(markup)
@@ -448,6 +452,7 @@ class HTMLFormatting(Formatting):
     def raw_html(self, content):
         return content
 
+
 class TxtParser(object):
     def __init__(self):
         self.markup = HTMLMarkup()
@@ -630,6 +635,7 @@ class TxtParser(object):
 
             i += 1
 
+
 class Txt2Html(TxtParser):
     def __init__(self):
         super().__init__()
@@ -641,6 +647,7 @@ class Txt2Html(TxtParser):
                line.startswith(".. END_HTML_ONLY") or \
                super().is_paragraph_separator(line)
 
+
 class TxtConverter:
     def get_argument_parser(self):
         return None
@@ -665,7 +672,15 @@ class TxtConverter:
                 print("Converting", filename, "...", file=err)
                 content = f.read()
                 converter = self.create_converter(parsed_args)
-                result = converter.convert(content)
+
+                try:
+                    result = converter.convert(content)
+                except Exception as e:
+                    msg = "###########################################################################\n" \
+                          " ERROR: " + e.args[0] + "\n" \
+                          "###########################################################################\n"
+                    print(msg, file=err)
+                    result = msg
 
                 if write_to_files:
                     output_filename = self.get_output_filename(filename)
@@ -674,6 +689,7 @@ class TxtConverter:
                 else:
                     print(result, end='', file=out)
 
+
 class Txt2HtmlConverter(TxtConverter):
     def get_argument_parser(self):
         parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='converts a text file with simple formatting & markup into HTML.\n'
diff --git a/doc/utils/converters/lammpsdoc/txt2rst.py b/doc/utils/converters/lammpsdoc/txt2rst.py
index e87f5bece9..3914e5782e 100755
--- a/doc/utils/converters/lammpsdoc/txt2rst.py
+++ b/doc/utils/converters/lammpsdoc/txt2rst.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import argparse
 from lammpsdoc import lammps_filters
 from lammpsdoc.txt2html import Markup, Formatting, TxtParser, TxtConverter
 
+
 class RSTMarkup(Markup):
     def __init__(self):
         super().__init__()
@@ -340,6 +341,7 @@ class RSTFormatting(Formatting):
 
         return text + post
 
+
 class Txt2Rst(TxtParser):
     def __init__(self):
         super().__init__()
@@ -373,6 +375,11 @@ class Txt2Rst(TxtParser):
             return commands
         return super().order_commands(commands)
 
+    def transform_paragraphs(self, content):
+        if self.format.indent_level > 0:
+            raise Exception("unbalanced number of ulb,ule or olb,ole pairs!")
+        return super().transform_paragraphs(content)
+
 
 class Txt2RstConverter(TxtConverter):
     def get_argument_parser(self):
@@ -389,6 +396,7 @@ class Txt2RstConverter(TxtConverter):
         filename, ext = os.path.splitext(path)
         return filename + ".rst"
 
+
 def main():
     app = Txt2RstConverter()
     app.run()