diff --git a/src/etc/htmldocck.py b/src/etc/htmldocck.py
index 5ab1874e9ed..2e0f832192f 100755
--- a/src/etc/htmldocck.py
+++ b/src/etc/htmldocck.py
@@ -274,6 +274,8 @@ def get_commands(template):
                 args = shlex.split(args)
             except UnicodeEncodeError:
                 args = [arg.decode('utf-8') for arg in shlex.split(args.encode('utf-8'))]
+            except Exception as exc:
+                raise Exception("line {}: {}".format(lineno + 1, exc)) from None
             yield Command(negated=negated, cmd=cmd, args=args, lineno=lineno+1, context=line)
 
 
diff --git a/tests/rustdoc/display-hidden-items.rs b/tests/rustdoc/display-hidden-items.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d97d5b4a968
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/rustdoc/display-hidden-items.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+// Test to ensure that the `--document-hidden-items` option is working as expected.
+// compile-flags: -Z unstable-options --document-hidden-items
+// ignore-tidy-linelength
+
+#![crate_name = "foo"]
+
+// @has 'foo/index.html'
+// @has - '//*[@id="reexport.hidden_reexport"]/code' 'pub use hidden::inside_hidden as hidden_reexport;'
+#[doc(hidden)]
+pub use hidden::inside_hidden as hidden_reexport;
+
+// @has - '//*[@class="item-name"]/a[@class="trait"]' 'TraitHidden'
+// @has 'foo/trait.TraitHidden.html'
+#[doc(hidden)]
+pub trait TraitHidden {}
+
+// @has 'foo/index.html' '//*[@class="item-name"]/a[@class="trait"]' 'Trait'
+pub trait Trait {
+    // @has 'foo/trait.Trait.html'
+    // @has - '//*[@id="associatedconstant.BAR"]/*[@class="code-header"]' 'const BAR: u32 = 0u32'
+    #[doc(hidden)]
+    const BAR: u32 = 0;
+
+    // @has - '//*[@id="method.foo"]/*[@class="code-header"]' 'fn foo()'
+    #[doc(hidden)]
+    fn foo() {}
+}
+
+// @has 'foo/index.html' '//*[@class="item-name"]/a[@class="struct"]' 'Struct'
+// @has 'foo/struct.Struct.html'
+pub struct Struct {
+    // @has - '//*[@id="structfield.a"]/code' 'a: u32'
+    #[doc(hidden)]
+    pub a: u32,
+}
+
+impl Struct {
+    // @has - '//*[@id="method.new"]/*[@class="code-header"]' 'pub fn new() -> Self'
+    #[doc(hidden)]
+    pub fn new() -> Self { Self { a: 0 } }
+}
+
+impl Trait for Struct {
+    // @has - '//*[@id="associatedconstant.BAR"]/*[@class="code-header"]' 'const BAR: u32 = 0u32'
+    // @has - '//*[@id="method.foo"]/*[@class="code-header"]' 'fn foo()'
+}
+// @has - '//*[@id="impl-TraitHidden-for-Struct"]/*[@class="code-header"]' 'impl TraitHidden for Struct'
+impl TraitHidden for Struct {}
+
+// @has 'foo/index.html' '//*[@class="item-name"]/a[@class="enum"]' 'HiddenEnum'
+// @has 'foo/enum.HiddenEnum.html'
+#[doc(hidden)]
+pub enum HiddenEnum {
+    A,
+}
+
+// @has 'foo/index.html' '//*[@class="item-name"]/a[@class="enum"]' 'Enum'
+pub enum Enum {
+    // @has 'foo/enum.Enum.html' '//*[@id="variant.A"]/*[@class="code-header"]' 'A'
+    #[doc(hidden)]
+    A,
+}
+
+// @has 'foo/index.html' '//*[@class="item-name"]/a[@class="mod"]' 'hidden'
+#[doc(hidden)]
+pub mod hidden {
+    // @has 'foo/hidden/index.html'
+    // @has - '//*[@class="item-name"]/a[@class="fn"]' 'inside_hidden'
+    // @has 'foo/hidden/fn.inside_hidden.html'
+    pub fn inside_hidden() {}
+}