diff --git a/core/dbt/events/functions.py b/core/dbt/events/functions.py
index 54d5fc3834f..b45cda5b05a 100644
--- a/core/dbt/events/functions.py
+++ b/core/dbt/events/functions.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from colorama import Style
 import dbt.events.functions as this  # don't worry I hate it too.
+import dbt.utils
 from dbt.events.base_types import NoStdOut, Event, NoFile, ShowException, Cache
 from dbt.events.types import T_Event, MainReportVersion, EmptyLine, EventBufferFull
 import dbt.flags as flags
@@ -194,7 +195,7 @@ def create_json_log_line(e: T_Event) -> Optional[str]:
         return None  # will not be sent to logger
     # using preformatted ts string instead of formatting it here to be extra careful about timezone
     values = event_to_serializable_dict(e)
-    raw_log_line = json.dumps(values, sort_keys=True)
+    raw_log_line = json.dumps(values, sort_keys=True, cls=dbt.utils.ForgivingJSONEncoder)
     return scrub_secrets(raw_log_line, env_secrets())
 
 
diff --git a/core/dbt/exceptions.py b/core/dbt/exceptions.py
index 0f4be19937c..46773d4c365 100644
--- a/core/dbt/exceptions.py
+++ b/core/dbt/exceptions.py
@@ -2,13 +2,13 @@
 import functools
 from typing import NoReturn, Optional, Mapping, Any
 
-from dbt.events.functions import fire_event, scrub_secrets, env_secrets
 from dbt.events.types import GeneralWarningMsg, GeneralWarningException
 from dbt.node_types import NodeType
 from dbt import flags
 from dbt.ui import line_wrap_message, warning_tag
 
 import dbt.dataclass_schema
+import dbt.events.functions
 
 
 def validator_error_message(exc):
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ class RuntimeException(RuntimeError, Exception):
     def __init__(self, msg, node=None):
         self.stack = []
         self.node = node
-        self.msg = scrub_secrets(msg, env_secrets())
+        self.msg = dbt.events.functions.scrub_secrets(msg, dbt.events.functions.env_secrets())
 
     def add_node(self, node=None):
         if node is not None and node is not self.node:
@@ -383,7 +383,10 @@ class FailedToConnectException(DatabaseException):
 
 class CommandError(RuntimeException):
     def __init__(self, cwd, cmd, message="Error running command"):
-        cmd_scrubbed = list(scrub_secrets(cmd_txt, env_secrets()) for cmd_txt in cmd)
+        cmd_scrubbed = list(
+            dbt.events.functions.scrub_secrets(cmd_txt, dbt.events.functions.env_secrets())
+            for cmd_txt in cmd
+        )
         super().__init__(message)
         self.cwd = cwd
         self.cmd = cmd_scrubbed
@@ -412,8 +415,12 @@ class CommandResultError(CommandError):
     def __init__(self, cwd, cmd, returncode, stdout, stderr, message="Got a non-zero returncode"):
         super().__init__(cwd, cmd, message)
         self.returncode = returncode
-        self.stdout = scrub_secrets(stdout.decode("utf-8"), env_secrets())
-        self.stderr = scrub_secrets(stderr.decode("utf-8"), env_secrets())
+        self.stdout = dbt.events.functions.scrub_secrets(
+            stdout.decode("utf-8"), dbt.events.functions.env_secrets()
+        )
+        self.stderr = dbt.events.functions.scrub_secrets(
+            stderr.decode("utf-8"), dbt.events.functions.env_secrets()
+        )
         self.args = (cwd, self.cmd, returncode, self.stdout, self.stderr, message)
 
     def __str__(self):
@@ -454,16 +461,20 @@ def raise_database_error(msg, node=None) -> NoReturn:
 
 
 def raise_dependency_error(msg) -> NoReturn:
-    raise DependencyException(scrub_secrets(msg, env_secrets()))
+    raise DependencyException(
+        dbt.events.functions.scrub_secrets(msg, dbt.events.functions.env_secrets())
+    )
 
 
 def raise_git_cloning_error(error: CommandResultError) -> NoReturn:
-    error.cmd = scrub_secrets(str(error.cmd), env_secrets())
+    error.cmd = dbt.events.functions.scrub_secrets(
+        str(error.cmd), dbt.events.functions.env_secrets()
+    )
     raise error
 
 
 def raise_git_cloning_problem(repo) -> NoReturn:
-    repo = scrub_secrets(repo, env_secrets())
+    repo = dbt.events.functions.scrub_secrets(repo, dbt.events.functions.env_secrets())
     msg = """\
     Something went wrong while cloning {}
     Check the debug logs for more information
@@ -755,7 +766,9 @@ def missing_materialization(model, adapter_type):
 
 def bad_package_spec(repo, spec, error_message):
     msg = "Error checking out spec='{}' for repo {}\n{}".format(spec, repo, error_message)
-    raise InternalException(scrub_secrets(msg, env_secrets()))
+    raise InternalException(
+        dbt.events.functions.scrub_secrets(msg, dbt.events.functions.env_secrets())
+    )
 
 
 def raise_cache_inconsistent(message):
@@ -1089,16 +1102,18 @@ def raise_duplicate_alias(
 
 def warn_or_error(msg, node=None, log_fmt=None):
     if flags.WARN_ERROR:
-        raise_compiler_error(scrub_secrets(msg, env_secrets()), node)
+        raise_compiler_error(
+            dbt.events.functions.scrub_secrets(msg, dbt.events.functions.env_secrets()), node
+        )
     else:
-        fire_event(GeneralWarningMsg(msg=msg, log_fmt=log_fmt))
+        dbt.events.functions.fire_event(GeneralWarningMsg(msg=msg, log_fmt=log_fmt))
 
 
 def warn_or_raise(exc, log_fmt=None):
     if flags.WARN_ERROR:
         raise exc
     else:
-        fire_event(GeneralWarningException(exc=str(exc), log_fmt=log_fmt))
+        dbt.events.functions.fire_event(GeneralWarningException(exc=str(exc), log_fmt=log_fmt))
 
 
 def warn(msg, node=None):
diff --git a/core/dbt/utils.py b/core/dbt/utils.py
index 2c143c10412..46fe8a02a71 100644
--- a/core/dbt/utils.py
+++ b/core/dbt/utils.py
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 from pathlib import PosixPath, WindowsPath
 
 from contextlib import contextmanager
-from dbt.exceptions import ConnectionException
-from dbt.events.functions import fire_event
 from dbt.events.types import RetryExternalCall, RecordRetryException
 from dbt import flags
 from enum import Enum
@@ -39,6 +37,7 @@
     Sequence,
 )
 
+import dbt.events.functions
 import dbt.exceptions
 
 DECIMALS: Tuple[Type[Any], ...]
@@ -333,15 +332,18 @@ class JSONEncoder(json.JSONEncoder):
     def default(self, obj):
         if isinstance(obj, DECIMALS):
             return float(obj)
-        if isinstance(obj, (datetime.datetime, datetime.date, datetime.time)):
+        elif isinstance(obj, (datetime.datetime, datetime.date, datetime.time)):
             return obj.isoformat()
-        if isinstance(obj, jinja2.Undefined):
+        elif isinstance(obj, jinja2.Undefined):
             return ""
-        if hasattr(obj, "to_dict"):
+        elif isinstance(obj, Exception):
+            return repr(obj)
+        elif hasattr(obj, "to_dict"):
             # if we have a to_dict we should try to serialize the result of
             # that!
             return obj.to_dict(omit_none=True)
-        return super().default(obj)
+        else:
+            return super().default(obj)
 
 
 class ForgivingJSONEncoder(JSONEncoder):
@@ -619,12 +621,14 @@ def _connection_exception_retry(fn, max_attempts: int, attempt: int = 0):
         ReadError,
     ) as exc:
         if attempt <= max_attempts - 1:
-            fire_event(RecordRetryException(exc=str(exc)))
-            fire_event(RetryExternalCall(attempt=attempt, max=max_attempts))
+            dbt.events.functions.fire_event(RecordRetryException(exc=str(exc)))
+            dbt.events.functions.fire_event(RetryExternalCall(attempt=attempt, max=max_attempts))
             time.sleep(1)
             return _connection_exception_retry(fn, max_attempts, attempt + 1)
         else:
-            raise ConnectionException("External connection exception occurred: " + str(exc))
+            raise dbt.exceptions.ConnectionException(
+                "External connection exception occurred: " + str(exc)
+            )
 
 
 # This is used to serialize the args in the run_results and in the logs.