diff --git a/api.go b/api.go
index 4c568d4bc7..59d88a7a21 100644
--- a/api.go
+++ b/api.go
@@ -819,6 +819,11 @@ func getContainersByName(srv *Server, version float64, w http.ResponseWriter, r
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
+	_, err = srv.ImageInspect(name)
+	if err == nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Conflict between containers and images")
+	}
 	b, err := json.Marshal(container)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -837,6 +842,11 @@ func getImagesByName(srv *Server, version float64, w http.ResponseWriter, r *htt
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
+	_, err = srv.ContainerInspect(name)
+	if err == nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Conflict between containers and images")
+	}
 	b, err := json.Marshal(image)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/commands.go b/commands.go
index b2a4d3db13..656790624e 100644
--- a/commands.go
+++ b/commands.go
@@ -577,7 +577,7 @@ func (cli *DockerCli) CmdInspect(args ...string) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			obj, _, err = cli.call("GET", "/images/"+name+"/json", nil)
 			if err != nil {
-				fmt.Fprintf(cli.err, "%s\n", err)
+				fmt.Fprintf(cli.err, "No such image or container: %s\n", name)
 				continue
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/docs/sources/api/docker_remote_api_v1.4.rst b/docs/sources/api/docker_remote_api_v1.4.rst
index 3ab5cdee0a..4f946e1e25 100644
--- a/docs/sources/api/docker_remote_api_v1.4.rst
+++ b/docs/sources/api/docker_remote_api_v1.4.rst
@@ -224,6 +224,7 @@ Inspect a container
 
 	:statuscode 200: no error
 	:statuscode 404: no such container
+	:statuscode 409: conflict between containers and images
 	:statuscode 500: server error
 
 
@@ -760,7 +761,8 @@ Inspect an image
 
 	:statuscode 200: no error
 	:statuscode 404: no such image
-        :statuscode 500: server error
+	:statuscode 409: conflict between containers and images
+	:statuscode 500: server error
 
 
 Get the history of an image