diff --git a/src/components/TracePage/TraceTimelineViewer/index.js b/src/components/TracePage/TraceTimelineViewer/index.js
index 5acb68b538..b945509f08 100644
--- a/src/components/TracePage/TraceTimelineViewer/index.js
+++ b/src/components/TracePage/TraceTimelineViewer/index.js
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import {
   formatDuration,
   findServerChildSpan,
   isErrorSpan,
+  spanContainsErredSpan,
 } from './utils';
 import { transformTrace } from './transforms';
 import colorGenerator from '../../../utils/color-generator';
@@ -323,12 +324,9 @@ function TraceView(props) {
         };
       }
 
-      let backgroundColor;
-      if (isErrorSpan(span)) {
-        backgroundColor = '#ffe6e6';
-      } else if (showSpanDetails) {
-        backgroundColor = 'whitesmoke';
-      }
+      const showErrorIcon = isErrorSpan(span) ||
+        (spanIsCollapsed && spanContainsErredSpan(trace.spans, i));
+      const backgroundColor = showSpanDetails ? 'whitesmoke' : null;
       arr.push(
         <TimelineRow
           key={spanID}
@@ -378,6 +376,11 @@ function TraceView(props) {
                       : undefined,
                   }}
                 >
+                  {showErrorIcon &&
+                    <i
+                      aria-hidden="true"
+                      className="icon warning circle red"
+                    />}
                   {span.process.serviceName} {childServerSpan &&
                     spanIsCollapsed &&
                     <span>
diff --git a/src/components/TracePage/TraceTimelineViewer/utils.js b/src/components/TracePage/TraceTimelineViewer/utils.js
index ef69240d57..7f0d37bad1 100644
--- a/src/components/TracePage/TraceTimelineViewer/utils.js
+++ b/src/components/TracePage/TraceTimelineViewer/utils.js
@@ -106,6 +106,28 @@ export const isClientSpan = span => hasTagKey(span.tags, 'span.kind', 'client');
 export const isServerSpan = span => hasTagKey(span.tags, 'span.kind', 'server');
 export const isErrorSpan = span => hasTagKey(span.tags, 'error', true);
 
+/**
+ * Returns `true` if at least one of the descendants of the `parentSpanIndex`
+ * span contains an error tag.
+ *
+ * @param      {Span[]}   spans            The spans for a trace - should be
+ *                                         sorted with children following parents.
+ * @param      {number}   parentSpanIndex  The index of the parent span - only
+ *                                         subsequent spans with depth less than
+ *                                         the parent span will be checked.
+ * @return     {boolean}  Returns `true` if a descendant contains an error tag.
+ */
+export function spanContainsErredSpan(spans, parentSpanIndex) {
+  const { depth } = spans[parentSpanIndex];
+  let i = parentSpanIndex + 1;
+  for (; i < spans.length && spans[i].depth > depth; i++) {
+    if (isErrorSpan(spans[i])) {
+      return true;
+    }
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+
 /**
  * Expects the first span to be the parent span.
  */
diff --git a/src/components/TracePage/TraceTimelineViewer/utils.test.js b/src/components/TracePage/TraceTimelineViewer/utils.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5160f7ead9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/TracePage/TraceTimelineViewer/utils.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2017 Uber Technologies, Inc.
+//
+// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+// of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+// in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+// to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+// copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+// furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+//
+// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+// all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+//
+// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+// IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+// FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+// AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+// LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+// OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+// THE SOFTWARE.
+
+import { spanContainsErredSpan } from './utils';
+import traceGenerator from '../../../demo/trace-generators';
+
+it('spanContainsErredSpan(...) is true only when a descendant has an error tag', () => {
+  const errorTag = { key: 'error', type: 'bool', value: true };
+  const getTags = withError =>
+    withError ? traceGenerator.tags().concat(errorTag) : traceGenerator.tags();
+
+  // Using a string to generate the test spans. Each line results in a span. The
+  // left number indicates whether or not the generated span has a descendant
+  // with an error tag (the expectation). The length of the line indicates the
+  // depth of the span (i.e. further right is higher depth). The right number
+  // indicates whether or not the span has an error tag.
+  const config = `
+    1   0
+    1     0
+    0       1
+    0     0
+    1     0
+    1       1
+    0         1
+    0           0
+    1         0
+    0           1
+    0   0
+  `
+    .trim()
+    .split('\n')
+    .map(s => s.trim());
+  // Get the expectation, str -> number -> bool
+  const expectations = config.map(s => Boolean(Number(s[0])));
+  const spans = config.map(line => ({
+    depth: line.length,
+    tags: getTags(+line.slice(-1)),
+  }));
+
+  expectations.forEach((target, i) => {
+    // include the index in the expect condition to know which span failed
+    // (if there is a failure, that is)
+    const result = [i, spanContainsErredSpan(spans, i)];
+    expect(result).toEqual([i, target]);
+  });
+});