diff --git a/servant-client/src/Servant/Common/BaseUrl.hs b/servant-client/src/Servant/Common/BaseUrl.hs
index eae87c42..f8cc61e2 100644
--- a/servant-client/src/Servant/Common/BaseUrl.hs
+++ b/servant-client/src/Servant/Common/BaseUrl.hs
@@ -1,8 +1,19 @@
-{-# LANGUAGE DeriveGeneric #-}
-{-# LANGUAGE ViewPatterns #-}
-module Servant.Common.BaseUrl where
+{-# LANGUAGE DeriveDataTypeable #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE DeriveGeneric      #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE ViewPatterns       #-}
+module Servant.Common.BaseUrl (
+  -- * types
+    BaseUrl (..)
+  , InvalidBaseUrlException
+  , Scheme (..)
+  -- * functions
+  , parseBaseUrl
+  , showBaseUrl
+) where
 
+import Control.Monad.Catch (MonadThrow, throwM, Exception)
 import Data.List
+import Data.Typeable
 import GHC.Generics
 import Network.URI
 import Safe
@@ -34,20 +45,23 @@ showBaseUrl (BaseUrl urlscheme host port) =
         (Https, 443) -> ""
         _ -> ":" ++ show port
 
-parseBaseUrl :: String -> Either String BaseUrl
+data InvalidBaseUrlException = InvalidBaseUrlException String deriving (Show, Typeable)
+instance Exception InvalidBaseUrlException
+
+parseBaseUrl :: MonadThrow m => String -> m BaseUrl
 parseBaseUrl s = case parseURI (removeTrailingSlash s) of
   -- This is a rather hacky implementation and should be replaced with something
   -- implemented in attoparsec (which is already a dependency anyhow (via aeson)).
   Just (URI "http:" (Just (URIAuth "" host (':' : (readMaybe -> Just port)))) "" "" "") ->
-    Right (BaseUrl Http host port)
+    return (BaseUrl Http host port)
   Just (URI "http:" (Just (URIAuth "" host "")) "" "" "") ->
-    Right (BaseUrl Http host 80)
+    return (BaseUrl Http host 80)
   Just (URI "https:" (Just (URIAuth "" host (':' : (readMaybe -> Just port)))) "" "" "") ->
-    Right (BaseUrl Https host port)
+    return (BaseUrl Https host port)
   Just (URI "https:" (Just (URIAuth "" host "")) "" "" "") ->
-    Right (BaseUrl Https host 443)
+    return (BaseUrl Https host 443)
   _ -> if "://" `isInfixOf` s
-    then Left ("invalid base url: " ++ s)
+    then throwM (InvalidBaseUrlException $ "Invalid base URL: " ++ s)
     else parseBaseUrl ("http://" ++ s)
  where
   removeTrailingSlash str = case lastMay str of
diff --git a/servant-client/src/Servant/Common/Req.hs b/servant-client/src/Servant/Common/Req.hs
index b726e7a9..ac2c3dba 100644
--- a/servant-client/src/Servant/Common/Req.hs
+++ b/servant-client/src/Servant/Common/Req.hs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE DeriveDataTypeable  #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE CPP                 #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings   #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE ScopedTypeVariables #-}
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ import Data.String.Conversions
 import Data.Proxy
 import Data.Text (Text)
 import Data.Text.Encoding
+import Data.Typeable
 import Network.HTTP.Client hiding (Proxy)
 import Network.HTTP.Client.TLS
 import Network.HTTP.Media
@@ -53,7 +55,9 @@ data ServantError
     { responseContentTypeHeader :: ByteString
     , responseBody              :: ByteString
     }
-  deriving (Show)
+  deriving (Show, Typeable)
+
+instance Exception ServantError
 
 data Req = Req
   { reqPath   :: String