diff --git a/spec/auto-update-manager-spec.js b/spec/auto-update-manager-spec.js
index 6f7dbbb1a..12fe0c825 100644
--- a/spec/auto-update-manager-spec.js
+++ b/spec/auto-update-manager-spec.js
@@ -64,6 +64,16 @@ describe('AutoUpdateManager (renderer)', () => {
     })
   })
 
+  describe('::onUpdateError', () => {
+    it('subscribes to "update-error" event', () => {
+      const spy = jasmine.createSpy('spy')
+      autoUpdateManager.onUpdateError(spy)
+      electronAutoUpdater.emit('error', {}, 'an error')
+      waitsFor(() => spy.callCount === 1)
+      runs(() => expect(spy).toHaveBeenCalledWith('an error'))
+    })
+  })
+
   describe('::platformSupportsUpdates', () => {
     let state, releaseChannel
     it('returns true on OS X and Windows when in stable', () => {
diff --git a/src/application-delegate.coffee b/src/application-delegate.coffee
index 3aff9e457..ecefc4b67 100644
--- a/src/application-delegate.coffee
+++ b/src/application-delegate.coffee
@@ -211,6 +211,14 @@ class ApplicationDelegate
     new Disposable ->
       ipcRenderer.removeListener('message', outerCallback)
 
+  onUpdateError: (callback) ->
+    outerCallback = (event, message, detail) ->
+      callback(detail) if message is 'update-error'
+
+    ipcRenderer.on('message', outerCallback)
+    new Disposable ->
+      ipcRenderer.removeListener('message', outerCallback)
+
   onApplicationMenuCommand: (callback) ->
     outerCallback = (event, args...) ->
       callback(args...)
diff --git a/src/auto-update-manager.js b/src/auto-update-manager.js
index 62cc03f85..07e0db4be 100644
--- a/src/auto-update-manager.js
+++ b/src/auto-update-manager.js
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ export default class AutoUpdateManager {
       }),
       applicationDelegate.onUpdateNotAvailable(() => {
         this.emitter.emit('update-not-available')
+      }),
+      applicationDelegate.onUpdateError((message) => {
+        this.emitter.emit('update-error', message)
       })
     )
   }
@@ -67,6 +70,10 @@ export default class AutoUpdateManager {
     return this.emitter.on('update-not-available', callback)
   }
 
+  onUpdateError (callback) {
+    return this.emitter.on('update-error', callback)
+  }
+
   getPlatform () {
     return process.platform
   }
diff --git a/src/browser/auto-update-manager.coffee b/src/browser/auto-update-manager.coffee
index c8c57cb01..391d1f0b4 100644
--- a/src/browser/auto-update-manager.coffee
+++ b/src/browser/auto-update-manager.coffee
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ class AutoUpdateManager
 
     autoUpdater.on 'error', (event, message) =>
       @setState(ErrorState)
+      @emitWindowEvent('update-error', message)
       console.error "Error Downloading Update: #{message}"
 
     autoUpdater.setFeedURL @feedUrl