diff --git a/lib/internal/queue.js b/lib/internal/queue.js
index 678cee1ba..e57ef14a5 100644
--- a/lib/internal/queue.js
+++ b/lib/internal/queue.js
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ export default function queue(worker, concurrency, payload) {
                 });
 
                 task.callback.apply(task, args);
+
+                if (args[0] != null) {
+                    q.error(args[0], task.data);
+                }
             });
 
             if (workers <= (q.concurrency - q.buffer) ) {
@@ -83,6 +87,7 @@ export default function queue(worker, concurrency, payload) {
         buffer: concurrency / 4,
         empty: noop,
         drain: noop,
+        error: noop,
         started: false,
         paused: false,
         push: function (data, callback) {
diff --git a/lib/queue.js b/lib/queue.js
index 24b187e2f..ac1987af4 100644
--- a/lib/queue.js
+++ b/lib/queue.js
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ import queue from './internal/queue';
  * from the `queue` is given to a `worker`.
  * @property {Function} drain - a callback that is called when the last item
  * from the `queue` has returned from the `worker`.
+ * @property {Function} error - a callback that is called when a task errors.
+ * Has the signature `function(error, task)`.
  * @property {boolean} paused - a boolean for determining whether the queue is
  * in a paused state.
  * @property {Function} pause - a function that pauses the processing of tasks
diff --git a/mocha_test/queue.js b/mocha_test/queue.js
index de21ef4df..8ba577066 100644
--- a/mocha_test/queue.js
+++ b/mocha_test/queue.js
@@ -155,6 +155,33 @@ describe('queue', function(){
         });
     });
 
+    it('global error handler', function(done){
+        var results = [];
+
+        var q = async.queue(function (task, callback) {
+            callback(task.name === 'foo' ? new Error('fooError') : null);
+        }, 2);
+
+        q.error = function(error, task) {
+            expect(error).to.exist;
+            expect(error.message).to.equal('fooError');
+            expect(task.name).to.equal('foo');
+            results.push('fooError');
+        };
+
+        q.drain = function() {
+            expect(results).to.eql(['fooError', 'bar']);
+            done();
+        };
+
+        q.push({name: 'foo'});
+
+        q.push({name: 'bar'}, function(error) {
+            expect(error).to.not.exist;
+            results.push('bar');
+        });
+    });
+
     // The original queue implementation allowed the concurrency to be changed only
     // on the same event loop during which a task was added to the queue. This
     // test attempts to be a more robust test.