diff --git a/Makefile.local b/Makefile.local
index 61a9c4c3..d58cea04 100644
--- a/Makefile.local
+++ b/Makefile.local
@@ -271,6 +271,7 @@ dataclean: distclean
 notmuch_client_srcs =		\
 	command-line-arguments.c\
 	debugger.c		\
+	status.c		\
 	gmime-filter-reply.c	\
 	hooks.c			\
 	notmuch.c		\
diff --git a/notmuch-client.h b/notmuch-client.h
index 882aa305..de8a3b15 100644
--- a/notmuch-client.h
+++ b/notmuch-client.h
@@ -449,6 +449,15 @@ notmuch_database_dump (notmuch_database_t *notmuch,
 		       dump_format_t output_format,
 		       notmuch_bool_t gzip_output);
 
+/* If status is non-zero (i.e. error) print appropriate
+   messages to stderr.
+*/
+
+notmuch_status_t
+print_status_query (const char *loc,
+		    const notmuch_query_t *query,
+		    notmuch_status_t status);
+
 #include "command-line-arguments.h"
 
 extern char *notmuch_requested_db_uuid;
diff --git a/status.c b/status.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8fa81cbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/status.c
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#include "notmuch-client.h"
+
+notmuch_status_t
+print_status_query (const char *loc,
+		    const notmuch_query_t *query,
+		    notmuch_status_t status)
+{
+    if (status) {
+	const char *msg;
+	notmuch_database_t *notmuch;
+
+	fprintf (stderr, "%s: %s\n", loc,
+		 notmuch_status_to_string (status));
+
+	notmuch = notmuch_query_get_database (query);
+	msg = notmuch_database_status_string (notmuch);
+	if (msg)
+	    fputs (msg, stderr);
+    }
+    return status;
+}