diff --git a/execute.go b/execute.go
index 3bf25f7..521aab6 100644
--- a/execute.go
+++ b/execute.go
@@ -3,10 +3,21 @@ package postgrest
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 )
 
+// ExecuteError is the error response format from postgrest. We really
+// only use Code and Message, but we'll keep it as a struct for now.
+
+type ExecuteError struct {
+	Hint    string `json:"hint"`
+	Details string `json:"details"`
+	Code    string `json:"code"`
+	Message string `json:"message"`
+}
+
 func executeHelper(client *Client, method string, body []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	if client.ClientError != nil {
 		return nil, client.ClientError
@@ -17,6 +28,7 @@ func executeHelper(client *Client, method string, body []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+
 	resp, err := client.session.Do(req)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -27,6 +39,16 @@ func executeHelper(client *Client, method string, body []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	// https://postgrest.org/en/stable/api.html#errors-and-http-status-codes
+	if resp.StatusCode >= 400 {
+		var errmsg *ExecuteError
+		err := json.Unmarshal(respbody, &errmsg)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("(%s) %s", errmsg.Code, errmsg.Message)
+	}
+
 	err = resp.Body.Close()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err