diff --git a/Lua/lbp.c b/Lua/lbp.c
index 2b6d62f..5e94890 100644
--- a/Lua/lbp.c
+++ b/Lua/lbp.c
@@ -31,6 +31,16 @@ static pat_t *builtins;
 
 static void push_match(lua_State *L, match_t *m, const char *start);
 
+lua_State *cur_state = NULL;
+
+static void match_error(pat_t *pat, const char *msg)
+{
+    (void)pat;
+    recycle_all_matches();
+    lua_pushstring(cur_state, msg);
+    lua_error(cur_state);
+}
+
 static inline void raise_parse_error(lua_State *L, maybe_pat_t m)
 {
     size_t err_len = (size_t)(m.value.error.end - m.value.error.start);
@@ -153,7 +163,8 @@ static int Lmatch(lua_State *L)
 
     match_t *m = NULL;
     int ret = 0;
-    if (next_match(&m, text+index-1, &text[textlen], pat, builtins, NULL, false)) {
+    cur_state = L;
+    if (next_match_safe(&m, text+index-1, &text[textlen], pat, builtins, NULL, false, match_error)) {
         push_match(L, m, text);
         stop_matching(&m);
         ret = 1;
@@ -191,7 +202,8 @@ static int Lreplace(lua_State *L)
     int replacements = 0;
     const char *prev = text;
     pat_t *rep_pat = maybe_replacement.value.pat;
-    for (match_t *m = NULL; next_match(&m, text, &text[textlen], rep_pat, builtins, NULL, false); ) {
+    cur_state = L;
+    for (match_t *m = NULL; next_match_safe(&m, text, &text[textlen], rep_pat, builtins, NULL, false, match_error); ) {
         fwrite(prev, sizeof(char), (size_t)(m->start - prev), out);
         fprint_match(out, text, m, NULL);
         prev = m->end;
diff --git a/Lua/test.lua b/Lua/test.lua
index 731b044..d812009 100644
--- a/Lua/test.lua
+++ b/Lua/test.lua
@@ -54,3 +54,10 @@ print(pat:replace("{@0}", "...baz..."))
 for m in pat:matches("hello world") do
     print(m)
 end
+
+
+local ok, err = pcall(function()
+    bp.match("nonexistent", "xxx")
+end)
+assert(not ok)
+print("(Successfully caught pattern matching error)")
diff --git a/match.c b/match.c
index 86ae2bd..cb7918c 100644
--- a/match.c
+++ b/match.c
@@ -49,6 +49,13 @@ typedef struct match_ctx_s {
 static match_t *unused_matches = NULL;
 static match_t *in_use_matches = NULL;
 
+static void default_error_handler(pat_t *pat, const char *msg) {
+    (void)pat;
+    errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "%s", msg);
+}
+
+static bp_errhand_t error_handler = default_error_handler;
+
 #define MATCHES(...) (match_t*[]){__VA_ARGS__, NULL}
 
 __attribute__((hot, nonnull(1,2,3)))
@@ -56,6 +63,18 @@ static match_t *match(match_ctx_t *ctx, const char *str, pat_t *pat);
 __attribute__((returns_nonnull))
 static match_t *new_match(pat_t *pat, const char *start, const char *end, match_t *children[]);
 
+__attribute__((format(printf,2,3)))
+static inline void match_error(pat_t *pat, const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+    va_list args;
+    va_start(args, fmt);
+    char buf[256];
+    vsnprintf(buf, sizeof(buf)-1, fmt, args);
+    va_end(args);
+    if (error_handler)
+        error_handler(pat, buf);
+}
+
 static match_t *clone_match(match_t *m)
 {
     if (!m) return NULL;
@@ -207,7 +226,8 @@ static pat_t *_lookup_def(pat_t *defs, const char *name, size_t namelen)
                 return defs->args.def.meaning;
             defs = defs->args.def.next_def;
         } else {
-            errx(1, "Invalid pattern type in definitions");
+            match_error(defs, "Invalid pattern type in definitions");
+            return NULL;
         }
     }
     return NULL;
@@ -646,8 +666,10 @@ static match_t *match(match_ctx_t *ctx, const char *str, pat_t *pat)
             return NULL;
 
         pat_t *ref = lookup_ctx(ctx, pat->args.ref.name, pat->args.ref.len);
-        if (ref == NULL)
-            errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "Unknown identifier: '%.*s'", (int)pat->args.ref.len, pat->args.ref.name);
+        if (ref == NULL) {
+            match_error(pat, "Unknown pattern: '%.*s'", (int)pat->args.ref.len, pat->args.ref.name);
+            return NULL;
+        }
 
         if (ref->type == BP_LEFTRECURSION)
             return match(ctx, str, ref);
@@ -732,7 +754,7 @@ static match_t *match(match_ctx_t *ctx, const char *str, pat_t *pat)
         return new_match(pat, str, str, NULL);
     }
     default: {
-        errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "Unknown pattern type: %u", pat->type);
+        match_error(pat, "Unknown pattern type: %u", pat->type);
         return NULL;
     }
     }
@@ -830,7 +852,10 @@ bool next_match(match_t **m, const char *start, const char *end, pat_t *pat, pat
         pos = start;
     }
 
-    if (!pat) return false;
+    if (!pat) {
+        error_handler = default_error_handler;
+        return false;
+    }
 
     match_ctx_t ctx = {
         .cache = &(cache_t){0},
@@ -844,6 +869,17 @@ bool next_match(match_t **m, const char *start, const char *end, pat_t *pat, pat
     return *m != NULL;
 }
 
+//
+// Wrapper for next_match() that sets an error handler
+//
+bool next_match_safe(match_t **m, const char *start, const char *end, pat_t *pat, pat_t *defs, pat_t *skip, bool ignorecase, bp_errhand_t errhand)
+{
+    error_handler = errhand;
+    bool ret = next_match(m, start, end, pat, defs, skip, ignorecase);
+    error_handler = default_error_handler;
+    return ret;
+}
+
 //
 // Helper function to track state while doing a depth-first search.
 //
diff --git a/match.h b/match.h
index 6c875c4..64ae84c 100644
--- a/match.h
+++ b/match.h
@@ -25,12 +25,15 @@ typedef struct match_s {
     struct match_s *_children[3];
 } match_t;
 
+typedef void (*bp_errhand_t)(pat_t *pat, const char *err_msg);
+
 __attribute__((nonnull))
 void recycle_match(match_t **at_m);
 size_t free_all_matches(void);
 size_t recycle_all_matches(void);
 bool next_match(match_t **m, const char *start, const char *end, pat_t *pat, pat_t *defs, pat_t *skip, bool ignorecase);
 #define stop_matching(m) next_match(m, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, 0)
+bool next_match_safe(match_t **m, const char *start, const char *end, pat_t *pat, pat_t *defs, pat_t *skip, bool ignorecase, bp_errhand_t errhand);
 __attribute__((nonnull))
 match_t *get_numbered_capture(match_t *m, int n);
 __attribute__((nonnull, pure))