diff --git a/src/CodecZstd.jl b/src/CodecZstd.jl
index dffbcc1..9778a43 100644
--- a/src/CodecZstd.jl
+++ b/src/CodecZstd.jl
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ export
     ZstdCompressorStream,
     ZstdFrameCompressor,
     ZstdDecompressor,
-    ZstdDecompressorStream
+    ZstdDecompressorStream,
+    ZstdError
 
 import TranscodingStreams:
     TranscodingStreams,
diff --git a/src/compression.jl b/src/compression.jl
index cabc3f9..0822064 100644
--- a/src/compression.jl
+++ b/src/compression.jl
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ end
 function TranscodingStreams.initialize(codec::ZstdCompressor)
     code = initialize!(codec.cstream, codec.level)
     if iserror(code)
-        zstderror(codec.cstream, code)
+        throw(ZstdError(code))
     end
     reset!(codec.cstream.ibuffer)
     reset!(codec.cstream.obuffer)
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ function TranscodingStreams.finalize(codec::ZstdCompressor)
     if codec.cstream.ptr != C_NULL
         code = free!(codec.cstream)
         if iserror(code)
-            zstderror(codec.cstream, code)
+            throw(ZstdError(code))
         end
         codec.cstream.ptr = C_NULL
     end
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ end
 function TranscodingStreams.startproc(codec::ZstdCompressor, mode::Symbol, error::Error)
     code = reset!(codec.cstream, 0 #=unknown source size=#)
     if iserror(code)
-        error[] = ErrorException("zstd error")
+        error[] = ZstdError(code)
         return :error
     end
     return :ok
@@ -144,8 +144,7 @@ function TranscodingStreams.process(codec::ZstdCompressor, input::Memory, output
     Δin = Int(cstream.ibuffer.pos - ibuffer_starting_pos)
     Δout = Int(cstream.obuffer.pos)
     if iserror(code)
-        ptr = LibZstd.ZSTD_getErrorName(code)
-        error[] = ErrorException("zstd error: " * unsafe_string(ptr))
+        error[] = ZstdError(code)
         return Δin, Δout, :error
     else
         return Δin, Δout, input.size == 0 && code == 0 ? :end : :ok
diff --git a/src/decompression.jl b/src/decompression.jl
index 765ce2c..a169068 100644
--- a/src/decompression.jl
+++ b/src/decompression.jl
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ end
 function TranscodingStreams.initialize(codec::ZstdDecompressor)
     code = initialize!(codec.dstream)
     if iserror(code)
-        zstderror(codec.dstream, code)
+        throw(ZstdError(code))
     end
     reset!(codec.dstream.ibuffer)
     reset!(codec.dstream.obuffer)
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ function TranscodingStreams.finalize(codec::ZstdDecompressor)
     if codec.dstream.ptr != C_NULL
         code = free!(codec.dstream)
         if iserror(code)
-            zstderror(codec.dstream, code)
+            throw(ZstdError(code))
         end
         codec.dstream.ptr = C_NULL
     end
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ end
 function TranscodingStreams.startproc(codec::ZstdDecompressor, mode::Symbol, error::Error)
     code = reset!(codec.dstream)
     if iserror(code)
-        error[] = ErrorException("zstd error")
+        error[] = ZstdError(code)
         return :error
     end
     return :ok
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ function TranscodingStreams.process(codec::ZstdDecompressor, input::Memory, outp
     Δin = Int(dstream.ibuffer.pos)
     Δout = Int(dstream.obuffer.pos)
     if iserror(code)
-        error[] = ErrorException("zstd error")
+        error[] = ZstdError(code)
         return Δin, Δout, :error
     else
         if code == 0
diff --git a/src/libzstd.jl b/src/libzstd.jl
index 79d021d..a145d71 100644
--- a/src/libzstd.jl
+++ b/src/libzstd.jl
@@ -5,11 +5,24 @@ function iserror(code::Csize_t)
     return LibZstd.ZSTD_isError(code) != 0
 end
 
+# deprecated error reporting
 function zstderror(stream, code::Csize_t)
+    zstderror(code)
+end
+function zstderror(code::Integer)
     ptr = LibZstd.ZSTD_getErrorName(code)
     error("zstd error: ", unsafe_string(ptr))
 end
 
+# new error reporting
+struct ZstdError <: Exception
+    code::Csize_t
+end
+ZstdError() = ZstdError(typemax(Csize_t))
+function Base.show(io::IO, e::ZstdError)
+    print(io, "ZstdError: ", unsafe_string(LibZstd.ZSTD_getErrorName(e.code)))
+end
+
 function max_clevel()
     return LibZstd.ZSTD_maxCLevel()
 end
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 7ca5875..937d5be 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -83,4 +83,5 @@ Random.seed!(1234)
     end
 
     include("compress_endOp.jl")
+    include("zstderror.jl")
 end
diff --git a/test/zstderror.jl b/test/zstderror.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c85481c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/zstderror.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+using Test
+using CodecZstd: ZstdError
+
+@static if VERSION ≥ v"1.8"
+@testset "ZSTD Errors" begin
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: No error detected" throw(ZstdError(0))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Error (generic)" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551615))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Unknown frame descriptor" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551606))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Version not supported" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551604))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Unsupported frame parameter" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551602))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Frame requires too much memory for decoding" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551600))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Data corruption detected" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551596))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Restored data doesn't match checksum" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551594))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Header of Literals' block doesn't respect format specification" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551592))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Dictionary is corrupted" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551586))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Dictionary mismatch" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551584))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Cannot create Dictionary from provided samples" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551582))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Unsupported parameter" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551576))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Unsupported combination of parameters" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551575))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Parameter is out of bound" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551574))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: tableLog requires too much memory : unsupported" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551572))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Unsupported max Symbol Value : too large" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551570))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Specified maxSymbolValue is too small" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551568))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: pledged buffer stability condition is not respected" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551566))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Operation not authorized at current processing stage" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551556))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Context should be init first" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551554))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Allocation error : not enough memory" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551552))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: workSpace buffer is not large enough" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551550))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Destination buffer is too small" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551546))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Src size is incorrect" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551544))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Operation on NULL destination buffer" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551542))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Operation made no progress over multiple calls, due to output buffer being full" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551536))
+    @test_throws "ZstdError: Operation made no progress over multiple calls, due to input being empty" throw(ZstdError(18446744073709551534))
+end
+end
+
+# Use the following function to print the tests above
+function print_error_tests()
+    err_codes = [0, 1, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20, 22, 24, 30, 32, 34, 40, 41, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 60, 62, 64, 66, 70, 72, 74, 80, 82];
+    println("@testset \"ZSTD Errors\" begin")
+    for err_code in err_codes
+        code = typemax(Csize_t)-err_code+1
+        println("    @test_throws \"" * string(CodecZstd.ZstdError(typemax(Csize_t) - err_code + 1)) * "\" throw(ZstdError($code))")
+    end
+    println("end")
+end
+