diff --git a/emacs/notmuch.el b/emacs/notmuch.el
index 4c1a6cac..b8d9c444 100644
--- a/emacs/notmuch.el
+++ b/emacs/notmuch.el
@@ -653,15 +653,8 @@ of the result."
 		    ;; For version mismatch, there's no point in
 		    ;; showing the search buffer
 		    (when (or (= exit-status 20) (= exit-status 21))
-		      (kill-buffer))
-		    (condition-case err
-			(notmuch-check-async-exit-status proc msg)
-		      ;; Suppress the error signal since strange
-		      ;; things happen if a sentinel signals.  Mimic
-		      ;; the top-level's handling of error messages.
-		      (error
-		       (message "%s" (error-message-string err))
-		       (throw 'return nil)))
+		      (kill-buffer)
+		      (throw 'return nil))
 		    (if (and atbob
 			     (not (string= notmuch-search-target-thread "found")))
 			(set 'never-found-target-thread t)))))
@@ -938,10 +931,9 @@ Other optional parameters are used as follows:
       (erase-buffer)
       (goto-char (point-min))
       (save-excursion
-	(let ((proc (start-process
-		     "notmuch-search" buffer
-		     notmuch-command "search"
-		     "--format=json" "--format-version=1"
+	(let ((proc (notmuch-start-notmuch
+		     "notmuch-search" buffer #'notmuch-search-process-sentinel
+		     "search" "--format=json" "--format-version=1"
 		     (if oldest-first
 			 "--sort=oldest-first"
 		       "--sort=newest-first")
@@ -951,7 +943,6 @@ Other optional parameters are used as follows:
 	      ;; should be called no matter how the process dies.
 	      (parse-buf (generate-new-buffer " *notmuch search parse*")))
 	  (process-put proc 'parse-buf parse-buf)
-	  (set-process-sentinel proc 'notmuch-search-process-sentinel)
 	  (set-process-filter proc 'notmuch-search-process-filter)
 	  (set-process-query-on-exit-flag proc nil))))
     (run-hooks 'notmuch-search-hook)))
diff --git a/test/emacs b/test/emacs
index 3b26d32f..e3cf4690 100755
--- a/test/emacs
+++ b/test/emacs
@@ -855,11 +855,10 @@ test_expect_success "Rendering HTML mail with images" \
     'cat OUTPUT && grep -q smiley OUTPUT'
 
 
-test_begin_subtest "Search handles subprocess errors"
+test_begin_subtest "Search handles subprocess error exit codes"
 cat > notmuch_fail <<EOF
 #!/bin/sh
 echo This is output
-echo This is an error >&2
 exit 1
 EOF
 chmod a+x notmuch_fail
@@ -876,8 +875,6 @@ sed -i -e 's/^\[.*\]$/[XXX]/' ERROR
 test_expect_equal "$(cat OUTPUT; echo ---; cat MESSAGES; echo ---; cat ERROR)" "\
 Error: Unexpected output from notmuch search:
 This is output
-Error: Unexpected output from notmuch search:
-This is an error
 End of search results.
 ---
 $PWD/notmuch_fail exited with status 1 (see *Notmuch errors* for more details)
@@ -887,4 +884,35 @@ $PWD/notmuch_fail exited with status 1
 command: $PWD/notmuch_fail search --format\=json --format-version\=1 --sort\=newest-first tag\:inbox
 exit status: 1"
 
+test_begin_subtest "Search handles subprocess warnings"
+cat > notmuch_fail <<EOF
+#!/bin/sh
+echo This is output
+echo This is a warning >&2
+echo This is another warning >&2
+exit 0
+EOF
+chmod a+x notmuch_fail
+test_emacs "(let ((notmuch-command \"$PWD/notmuch_fail\"))
+	       (with-current-buffer \"*Messages*\" (erase-buffer))
+	       (with-current-buffer \"*Notmuch errors*\" (erase-buffer))
+	       (notmuch-search \"tag:inbox\")
+	       (notmuch-test-wait)
+	       (with-current-buffer \"*Messages*\"
+		  (test-output \"MESSAGES\"))
+	       (with-current-buffer \"*Notmuch errors*\"
+		  (test-output \"ERROR\"))
+	       (test-output))"
+sed -i -e 's/^\[.*\]$/[XXX]/' ERROR
+test_expect_equal "$(cat OUTPUT; echo ---; cat MESSAGES; echo ---; cat ERROR)" "\
+Error: Unexpected output from notmuch search:
+This is output
+End of search results.
+---
+This is a warning (see *Notmuch errors* for more details)
+---
+[XXX]
+This is a warning
+This is another warning"
+
 test_done