diff --git a/lib/client.js b/lib/client.js
index 6f467bd..e1060c8 100644
--- a/lib/client.js
+++ b/lib/client.js
@@ -110,8 +110,13 @@
 
     if (typeof error.error === 'string') {
       return error.error
-    } else if (error.response && error.response.result && typeof error.response.result.error === 'string') {
-      return error.response.result.error
+    } else if (error.response && error.response.result) {
+      const result = error.response.result
+      if (typeof result.error === 'string') {
+        return result.error
+      } else if (typeof result.statusCode === 'number') {
+        return `application error, status code: ${result.statusCode}`
+      }
     }
 
     return 'Missing error message.'
diff --git a/test/unit/client.test.js b/test/unit/client.test.js
index 3a79265..16bed22 100644
--- a/test/unit/client.test.js
+++ b/test/unit/client.test.js
@@ -109,8 +109,10 @@
   t.throws(() => client.handle_errors({statusCode: 409}), /Conflict/)
   t.throws(() => client.handle_errors({statusCode: 500, error: {}}), /API call failed/)
   t.throws(() => client.handle_errors({statusCode: 500, error: {response: {result: {error: 'custom'}}}}), /custom/)
+  t.throws(() => client.handle_errors({statusCode: 500, error: {response: {result: {statusCode: 404}}}}), /404/)
   t.throws(() => client.handle_errors({statusCode: 502, error: {}}), /Action invocation failed/)
-  t.throws(() => client.handle_errors({statusCode: 500, error: {response: {result: {error: 'custom'}}}}), /custom/)
+  t.throws(() => client.handle_errors({statusCode: 502, error: {response: {result: {error: 'custom'}}}}), /custom/)
+  t.throws(() => client.handle_errors({statusCode: 502, error: {response: {result: {statusCode: 404}}}}), /404/)
 })
 
 test('should throw errors for non-HTTP response failures', t => {