diff --git a/src/mu-query.cc b/src/mu-query.cc
index 2f65d702..242dbc79 100644
--- a/src/mu-query.cc
+++ b/src/mu-query.cc
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 #include "mu-util.h"
 #include "mu-util-db.h"
 #include "mu-str.h"
+#include "mu-result.h"
 
 /*
  * custom parser for date ranges
@@ -179,23 +180,26 @@ uninit_mu_query (MuQuery *mqx)
 }
 
 
-static Xapian::Query
-get_query  (MuQuery * mqx, const char* searchexpr, int *err = 0)  {
-	
+static bool
+set_query (MuQuery *mqx, Xapian::Query& q, const char* searchexpr,
+	   GError **err)  {
 	try {
-		return mqx->_qparser->parse_query
+		q = mqx->_qparser->parse_query
 			(searchexpr,
 			 Xapian::QueryParser::FLAG_BOOLEAN          |
 			 Xapian::QueryParser::FLAG_PURE_NOT         |
 			 Xapian::QueryParser::FLAG_AUTO_SYNONYMS    |
 			 Xapian::QueryParser::FLAG_BOOLEAN_ANY_CASE);
+
+		return true;
 		
 	} MU_XAPIAN_CATCH_BLOCK;
 	
-	if (err)
-		*err  = 1;
+	/* some error occured */
+	g_set_error (err, 0, MU_ERROR_QUERY, "parse error in query '%s'",
+		     searchexpr);
 	
-	return Xapian::Query();
+	return false;
 }
 
 static void
@@ -231,32 +235,34 @@ add_prefix (MuMsgFieldId mfid, Xapian::QueryParser* qparser)
 }
 
 MuQuery*
-mu_query_new (const char* xpath)
+mu_query_new (const char* xpath, GError **err)
 {
 	MuQuery *mqx;
 	
 	g_return_val_if_fail (xpath, NULL);
 
 	if (!mu_util_check_dir (xpath, TRUE, FALSE)) {
-		g_warning ("'%s' is not a readable xapian dir", xpath);
+		g_set_error (err, 0, MU_ERROR_XAPIAN_DIR,
+			     "'%s' is not a readable xapian dir", xpath);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	if (mu_util_db_is_empty (xpath)) {
-		g_warning ("database %s is empty; nothing to do", xpath);
-		return NULL;
-	}
-	
+		
 	if (!mu_util_db_version_up_to_date (xpath)) {
-		g_warning ("%s is not up-to-date, needs a full update",
-			   xpath);
+		g_set_error (err, 0, MU_ERROR_XAPIAN_NOT_UPTODATE,
+			     "%s is not up-to-date, needs a full update",
+			     xpath);
 		return NULL;
 	}
+
+	if (mu_util_db_is_empty (xpath)) 
+		g_warning ("database %s is empty; nothing to do", xpath);
 	
 	mqx = g_new (MuQuery, 1);
 
 	if (!init_mu_query (mqx, xpath)) {
-		g_critical ("failed to initialize the Xapian query object");
+		g_set_error (err, 0, MU_ERROR_INTERNAL,
+			     "failed to initialize the Xapian query object");
 		g_free (mqx);
 		return NULL;
 	}
@@ -373,7 +379,7 @@ mu_query_preprocess (const char *query)
 MuMsgIter*
 mu_query_run (MuQuery *self, const char* searchexpr,
 	      MuMsgFieldId sortfieldid, gboolean ascending,
-	      size_t batchsize)  
+	      size_t batchsize, GError **err)  
 {
 	g_return_val_if_fail (self, NULL);
 	g_return_val_if_fail (searchexpr, NULL);	
@@ -381,14 +387,12 @@ mu_query_run (MuQuery *self, const char* searchexpr,
 			      sortfieldid == MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_NONE,
 			      NULL);
 	try {
+		Xapian::Query query;
 		char *preprocessed;	
-		int err (0);
-		
+
 		preprocessed = mu_query_preprocess (searchexpr);
 
-		Xapian::Query q(get_query(self, preprocessed, &err));
-		if (err) {
-			g_warning ("Error in query '%s'", preprocessed);
+		if (!set_query(self, query, preprocessed, err)) {
 			g_free (preprocessed);
 			return NULL;
 		}
@@ -402,9 +406,8 @@ mu_query_run (MuQuery *self, const char* searchexpr,
 		if (sortfieldid != MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_NONE)
 			enq.set_sort_by_value ((Xapian::valueno)sortfieldid,
 					       ascending ? true : false);
-		enq.set_query(q);
+		enq.set_query(query);
 		enq.set_cutoff(0,0);
-
 		
 		return mu_msg_iter_new (enq, batchsize);
 		
@@ -412,24 +415,24 @@ mu_query_run (MuQuery *self, const char* searchexpr,
 }
 
 char*
-mu_query_as_string  (MuQuery *self, const char *searchexpr) 
+mu_query_as_string  (MuQuery *self, const char *searchexpr, GError **err) 
 {
 	g_return_val_if_fail (self, NULL);
 	g_return_val_if_fail (searchexpr, NULL);
 		
 	try {
+		Xapian::Query query;
 		char *preprocessed;
-		int err (0);
 		
 		preprocessed = mu_query_preprocess (searchexpr);
 		
-		Xapian::Query q(get_query(self, preprocessed, &err));
-		if (err)
-			g_warning ("Error in query '%s'", preprocessed);
-
+		if (!set_query(self, query, preprocessed, err)) {
+			g_free (preprocessed);
+			return NULL;
+		}
 		g_free (preprocessed);
 
-		return err ? NULL : g_strdup(q.get_description().c_str());
+		return g_strdup(query.get_description().c_str());
 		
 	} MU_XAPIAN_CATCH_BLOCK_RETURN(NULL);
 }
diff --git a/src/mu-query.h b/src/mu-query.h
index 4f853304..925c618a 100644
--- a/src/mu-query.h
+++ b/src/mu-query.h
@@ -31,14 +31,15 @@ typedef struct _MuQuery MuQuery;
 /**
  * create a new MuQuery instance. 
  * 
- * @param path path to the xapian db to search
- * @param err receives error information (if there is any)
- *
+ * @param path path to the xapian db to search 
+ * @param err receives error information (if there is any); if
+ * function returns non-NULL, err will _not_be set. err can be NULL
+ * 
  * @return a new MuQuery instance, or NULL in case of error.
  * when the instance is no longer needed, use mu_query_destroy
  * to free it
  */
-MuQuery  *mu_query_new  (const char* path) G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
+MuQuery  *mu_query_new  (const char* path, GError **err) G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
 
 /**
  * destroy the MuQuery instance
@@ -71,6 +72,8 @@ char* mu_query_version (MuQuery *store) G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
  * reasons - it's best to get the size one wants to show the user at once.
  * If you pass '0' as the batchsize, mu will use the maximum size (the count
  * of documents in the database)
+ * @param err receives error information (if there is any); if
+ * function returns non-NULL, err will _not_be set. err can be NULL
  *
  * @return a MuMsgIter instance you can iterate over, or NULL in
  * case of error
@@ -79,19 +82,22 @@ MuMsgIter* mu_query_run (MuQuery *self,
 			 const char* expr,
 			 MuMsgFieldId sortfieldid,
 			 gboolean ascending,
-			 size_t batchsize) G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
+			 size_t batchsize,
+			 GError **err) G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
 
 /**
  * get a string representation of the Xapian search query
  * 
  * @param self a MuQuery instance 
  * @param searchexpr a xapian search expression
+ * @param err receives error information (if there is any); if
+ * function returns non-NULL, err will _not_be set. err can be NULL
  * 
  * @return the string representation of the xapian query, or NULL in case of
  * error; free the returned value with g_free
  */
 char* mu_query_as_string (MuQuery *self,
-			  const char* searchexpr) G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
+			  const char* searchexpr, GError **err) G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
 
 /**
  * pre-process the query; this function is useful mainly for debugging mu
diff --git a/src/mu-result.h b/src/mu-result.h
index 51ffa3d1..a9b88a58 100644
--- a/src/mu-result.h
+++ b/src/mu-result.h
@@ -23,7 +23,16 @@
 enum _MuResult {
 	MU_OK,		/* all went ok */
 	MU_STOP,	/* user wants to stop */
+
+	MU_ERROR_XAPIAN_DIR,
+	MU_ERROR_XAPIAN_NOT_UPTODATE,
+	MU_ERROR_QUERY,
+	MU_ERROR_INTERNAL,
+	
 	MU_ERROR	/* some error occured */
+
+	
+
 };
 typedef enum _MuResult MuResult;
 
diff --git a/src/tests/test-mu-query.c b/src/tests/test-mu-query.c
index 1cebc052..bdbd35ba 100644
--- a/src/tests/test-mu-query.c
+++ b/src/tests/test-mu-query.c
@@ -64,11 +64,11 @@ run_and_count_matches (const char *xpath, const char *query)
 	MuMsgIter *iter;
 	guint count;
 	
-	mquery = mu_query_new (xpath);
+	mquery = mu_query_new (xpath, NULL);
 	g_assert (query);
 	
 	iter = mu_query_run (mquery, query, MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_NONE,
-			     FALSE, 1);
+			     FALSE, 1, NULL);
 	mu_query_destroy (mquery);
 	g_assert (iter);
 
@@ -213,11 +213,11 @@ test_mu_query_05 (void)
 	xpath = fill_database ();
 	g_assert (xpath != NULL);
 
-	query = mu_query_new (xpath);
+	query = mu_query_new (xpath, NULL);
 	iter = mu_query_run (query, "fünkÿ", MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_NONE,
-			     FALSE, 1);
+			     FALSE, 1, NULL);
 	msg = mu_msg_iter_get_msg (iter);
-	
+		
 	g_assert_cmpstr (mu_msg_get_subject(msg),==, 
 			 "Greetings from Lothlórien");
 	g_assert_cmpstr (mu_msg_get_summary(msg,5),==,
diff --git a/toys/mug/mug-msg-list-view.c b/toys/mug/mug-msg-list-view.c
index b8823f9f..798eab2c 100644
--- a/toys/mug/mug-msg-list-view.c
+++ b/toys/mug/mug-msg-list-view.c
@@ -311,21 +311,25 @@ empty_or_display_contact (const gchar* str)
 static MuMsgIter *
 run_query (const char *xpath, const char *query)
 {
+	GError *err;
 	MuQuery *xapian;
 	MuMsgIter *iter;
 
-	xapian = mu_query_new (xpath);
+	err = NULL;
+	xapian = mu_query_new (xpath, &err);
 	if (!xapian) {
-		g_printerr ("Failed to create a Xapian query\n");
+		g_warning ("Error: %s", err->message);
+		g_error_free (err);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
 	iter = mu_query_run (xapian, query,
 			     MU_MSG_FIELD_ID_DATE,
-			     TRUE, 0);
+			     TRUE, 0, &err);
 	mu_query_destroy (xapian);
 	if (!iter) {
-		g_warning ("error: running query failed\n");
+		g_warning ("Error: %s", err->message);
+		g_error_free (err);
 		return NULL;
 	}