diff --git a/src/core/org/luaj/vm2/LuaError.java b/src/core/org/luaj/vm2/LuaError.java
index 03c3d5b9..e57035c6 100644
--- a/src/core/org/luaj/vm2/LuaError.java
+++ b/src/core/org/luaj/vm2/LuaError.java
@@ -40,10 +40,14 @@ public class LuaError extends RuntimeException {
 	private static String errorHook(String msg) {
 		LuaThread thread = LuaThread.getRunning();
 		if ( thread.err != null ) { 
+			LuaValue errfunc = thread.err;
+			thread.err = null;
 			try {
-				return thread.err.call( LuaValue.valueOf(msg) ).tojstring();
+				return errfunc.call( LuaValue.valueOf(msg) ).tojstring();
 			} catch ( Throwable t ) {
 				return "error in error handling";
+			} finally {
+				thread.err = errfunc;
 			}
 		}
 		return msg;
diff --git a/src/core/org/luaj/vm2/lib/BaseLib.java b/src/core/org/luaj/vm2/lib/BaseLib.java
index cc158eed..f5b639f5 100644
--- a/src/core/org/luaj/vm2/lib/BaseLib.java
+++ b/src/core/org/luaj/vm2/lib/BaseLib.java
@@ -238,43 +238,21 @@ public class BaseLib extends OneArgFunction implements ResourceFinder {
 					return varargsOf(NIL, valueOf(e.getMessage()));
 				} 
 			case 5: // "pcall", // (f, arg1, ...) -> status, result1, ...
+			{
+				LuaThread.onCall(this);
 				try {
-					LuaThread.onCall(this);
-					try {
-						return varargsOf(LuaValue.TRUE, args.arg1().invoke(args.subargs(2)));
-					} finally {
-						LuaThread.onReturn();
-					}
-				} catch ( LuaError le ) {
-					String m = le.getMessage();
-					return varargsOf(FALSE, m!=null? valueOf(m): NIL);
-				} catch ( Exception e ) {
-					String m = e.getMessage();
-					return varargsOf(FALSE, valueOf(m!=null? m: e.toString()));
+					return pcall(args.arg1(),args.subargs(2),null);
+				} finally {
+					LuaThread.onReturn();
 				}
+			}
 			case 6: // "xpcall", // (f, err) -> result1, ...				
 			{
-				LuaValue errfunc = args.checkvalue(2);
+				LuaThread.onCall(this);
 				try {
-					LuaThread.onCall(this);
-					try {
-						LuaThread thread = LuaThread.getRunning();
-						LuaValue olderr = thread.err;
-						try {
-							thread.err = errfunc;
-							return varargsOf(LuaValue.TRUE, args.arg1().invoke(args.subargs(2)));
-						} finally {
-							thread.err = olderr;
-						}
-					} finally {
-						LuaThread.onReturn();
-					}
-				} catch ( LuaError le ) {
-					String m = le.getMessage();
-					return varargsOf(FALSE, m!=null? valueOf(m): NIL);
-				} catch ( Exception e ) {
-					String m = e.getMessage();
-					return varargsOf(FALSE, valueOf(m!=null? m: e.toString()));
+					return pcall(args.arg1(),NONE,args.checkvalue(2));
+				} finally {
+					LuaThread.onReturn();
 				}
 			}
 			case 7: // "print", // (...) -> void
@@ -358,6 +336,25 @@ public class BaseLib extends OneArgFunction implements ResourceFinder {
 		}
 	}
 
+	public static Varargs pcall(LuaValue func, Varargs args, LuaValue errfunc) {
+		try {
+			LuaThread thread = LuaThread.getRunning();
+			LuaValue olderr = thread.err;
+			try {
+				thread.err = errfunc;
+				return varargsOf(LuaValue.TRUE, func.invoke(args));
+			} finally {
+				thread.err = olderr;
+			}
+		} catch ( LuaError le ) {
+			String m = le.getMessage();
+			return varargsOf(FALSE, m!=null? valueOf(m): NIL);
+		} catch ( Exception e ) {
+			String m = e.getMessage();
+			return varargsOf(FALSE, valueOf(m!=null? m: e.toString()));
+		}
+	}
+	
 	public static Varargs loadFile(String filename) throws IOException {
 		InputStream is = FINDER.findResource(filename);
 		if ( is == null )
diff --git a/test/lua/baselib.lua b/test/lua/baselib.lua
index 2b99756a..a4e893fb 100644
--- a/test/lua/baselib.lua
+++ b/test/lua/baselib.lua
@@ -286,3 +286,20 @@ print( 'pcall(unpack,t,function() end)', pcall(unpack,t,function() end) );
 -- _VERSION
 print( '_VERSION', type(_VERSION) )
 
+-- xpcall
+local errfunc = function( detail ) 
+	print( '  in errfunc', type(detail) )
+	return 'response-from-xpcall' 
+end
+local badfunc = function() error( 'error-from-badfunc' ) end
+local wrappedbad = function() pcall( badfunc ) end
+print( 'pcall(badfunc)', pcall(badfunc) )
+print( 'pcall(badfunc,errfunc)', pcall(badfunc,errfunc) )
+print( 'pcall(badfunc,badfunc)', pcall(badfunc,badfunc) )
+print( 'pcall(wrappedbad)', pcall(wrappedbad) )
+print( 'pcall(wrappedbad,errfunc)', pcall(wrappedbad,errfunc) )
+print( 'pcall(xpcall(badfunc))', pcall(xpcall,badfunc) )
+print( 'pcall(xpcall(badfunc,errfunc))', pcall(xpcall,badfunc,errfunc) )
+print( 'pcall(xpcall(badfunc,badfunc))', pcall(xpcall,badfunc,badfunc) )
+print( 'pcall(xpcall(wrappedbad))', pcall(xpcall,wrappedbad) )
+print( 'xpcall(wrappedbad,errfunc)', xpcall(wrappedbad,errfunc) )