diff --git a/httpie/core.py b/httpie/core.py
index 83910ec7..1660b93b 100644
--- a/httpie/core.py
+++ b/httpie/core.py
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ def decode_args(args, stdin_encoding):
     ]
 
 
-def main(args=sys.argv[1:], env=Environment()):
+def main(args=sys.argv[1:], env=Environment(), error=None):
     """Run the main program and write the output to ``env.stdout``.
 
     Return exit status code.
@@ -81,11 +81,14 @@ def main(args=sys.argv[1:], env=Environment()):
     if env.config.default_options:
         args = env.config.default_options + args
 
-    def error(msg, *args, **kwargs):
+    def _error(msg, *args, **kwargs):
         msg = msg % args
         level = kwargs.get('level', 'error')
         env.stderr.write('\nhttp: %s: %s\n' % (level, msg))
 
+    if error is None:
+        error = _error
+
     debug = '--debug' in args
     traceback = debug or '--traceback' in args
     exit_status = ExitStatus.OK
diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index 16fcc9cb..9e132deb 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 tox
+mock
 pytest
 pytest-cov
 pytest-httpbin
diff --git a/tests/test_errors.py b/tests/test_errors.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1d7cf24c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_errors.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import mock
+from pytest import raises
+from requests import Request, Timeout
+from requests.exceptions import ConnectionError
+
+from httpie.core import main
+
+error_msg = None
+
+
+@mock.patch('httpie.core.get_response')
+def test_error(get_response):
+    def error(msg, *args, **kwargs):
+        global error_msg
+        error_msg = msg % args
+
+    exc = ConnectionError('Connection aborted')
+    exc.request = Request(method='GET', url='http://www.google.com')
+    get_response.side_effect = exc
+    ret = main(['--ignore-stdin', 'www.google.com'], error=error)
+    assert ret == 1
+    assert error_msg == (
+        'ConnectionError: '
+        'Connection aborted while doing GET request to URL: '
+        'http://www.google.com')
+
+
+@mock.patch('httpie.core.get_response')
+def test_error_traceback(get_response):
+    exc = ConnectionError('Connection aborted')
+    exc.request = Request(method='GET', url='http://www.google.com')
+    get_response.side_effect = exc
+    with raises(ConnectionError):
+        ret = main(['--ignore-stdin', '--traceback', 'www.google.com'])
+
+
+@mock.patch('httpie.core.get_response')
+def test_timeout(get_response):
+    def error(msg, *args, **kwargs):
+        global error_msg
+        error_msg = msg % args
+
+    exc = Timeout('Request timed out')
+    exc.request = Request(method='GET', url='http://www.google.com')
+    get_response.side_effect = exc
+    ret = main(['--ignore-stdin', 'www.google.com'], error=error)
+    assert ret == 2
+    assert error_msg == 'Request timed out (30s).'