diff --git a/src/de.rs b/src/de.rs
index 514f815..e0f44c3 100644
--- a/src/de.rs
+++ b/src/de.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use std::slice;
 use std::str::FromStr;
 
 
-use serde::de::{self, DeserializeSeed, Visitor, SeqAccess, Error as DeError};
+use serde::de::{self, DeserializeSeed, Visitor, SeqAccess};
 use serde::de::{MapAccess, EnumAccess, VariantAccess, IntoDeserializer};
 
 use ast::{Ast, Ast as A, Tag};
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ impl<'a> de::Deserializer<'a> for KeyDeserializer {
             "true" => true,
             "false" => false,
             _ => {
-                return Err(Error::custom(format!("bad boolean {:?}", self.0)));
+                let e: Error = de::Error::custom(format!("bad boolean {:?}", self.0));
+                return Err(e);
             }
         };
         visitor.visit_bool(value)
@@ -140,10 +141,12 @@ impl<'a> de::Deserializer<'a> for KeyDeserializer {
         where V: Visitor<'a>
     {
         let mut chars = self.0.chars();
-        let val = chars.next()
-            .ok_or_else(|| Error::custom("single character expected"))?;
+        let val = (chars.next()
+            .ok_or_else(|| {
+                de::Error::custom("single character expected")
+            }) as Result<_>)?;
         if chars.next().is_some() {
-            return Err(Error::custom("single character expected"))
+            return Err(de::Error::custom("single character expected"))
         }
         visitor.visit_char(val)
     }
@@ -216,7 +219,7 @@ impl<'a> de::Deserializer<'a> for KeyDeserializer {
     fn deserialize_seq<V>(self, _visitor: V) -> Result<V::Value>
         where V: Visitor<'a>
     {
-        Err(Error::custom("sequence can't be mapping key in quire"))
+        Err(de::Error::custom("sequence can't be mapping key in quire"))
     }
 
     fn deserialize_tuple<V>(
@@ -226,7 +229,7 @@ impl<'a> de::Deserializer<'a> for KeyDeserializer {
     ) -> Result<V::Value>
         where V: Visitor<'a>
     {
-        Err(Error::custom("tuple can't be mapping key in quire"))
+        Err(de::Error::custom("tuple can't be mapping key in quire"))
     }
 
     // Tuple structs look just like sequences in JSON.
@@ -238,13 +241,13 @@ impl<'a> de::Deserializer<'a> for KeyDeserializer {
     ) -> Result<V::Value>
         where V: Visitor<'a>
     {
-        Err(Error::custom("tuple struct can't be mapping key in quire"))
+        Err(de::Error::custom("tuple struct can't be mapping key in quire"))
     }
 
     fn deserialize_map<V>(self, visitor: V) -> Result<V::Value>
         where V: Visitor<'a>
     {
-        Err(Error::custom("mapping can't be mapping key in quire"))
+        Err(de::Error::custom("mapping can't be mapping key in quire"))
     }
     fn deserialize_struct<V>(
         self,
@@ -254,7 +257,7 @@ impl<'a> de::Deserializer<'a> for KeyDeserializer {
     ) -> Result<V::Value>
         where V: Visitor<'a>
     {
-        Err(Error::custom("struct can't be mapping key in quire"))
+        Err(de::Error::custom("struct can't be mapping key in quire"))
     }
 
     fn deserialize_enum<V>(
@@ -266,7 +269,7 @@ impl<'a> de::Deserializer<'a> for KeyDeserializer {
         where V: Visitor<'a>
     {
         // TODO(tailhook) some support might work
-        Err(Error::custom("enum can't be mapping key in quire"))
+        Err(de::Error::custom("enum can't be mapping key in quire"))
     }
 
     fn deserialize_identifier<V>(
diff --git a/src/errors.rs b/src/errors.rs
index bcc6e38..fd6d286 100644
--- a/src/errors.rs
+++ b/src/errors.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use std::io;
 use std::fmt;
 use std::rc::Rc;
+use std::error::Error as StdError;
 use std::slice::Iter;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::cell::RefCell;
@@ -42,16 +43,26 @@ quick_error! {
                     filename=pos.0, line=pos.1, offset=pos.2,
                     path=path, text=msg)
         }
-        Custom(message: String) {
-            display("{}", message)
-            description(message)
+        SerdeError(msg: String) {
+            display("{}", msg)
+        }
+        CustomError(pos: Option<ErrorPos>, err: Box<StdError>) {
+            display(x) -> ("{loc}{err}",
+                loc=if let &Some(ref p) = pos {
+                    format!("{filename}:{line}:{offset}: ",
+                        filename=p.0, line=p.1, offset=p.2)
+                } else {
+                    "".to_string()
+                },
+                err=err)
+            cause(&**err)
         }
     }
 }
 
 impl ::serde::de::Error for Error {
-    fn custom<T: ::std::fmt::Display>(msg: T) -> Self {
-        ErrorEnum::Custom(format!("{}", msg)).into()
+    fn custom<T: fmt::Display>(msg: T) -> Self {
+        ErrorEnum::SerdeError(format!("{}", msg)).into()
     }
 }
 
@@ -85,6 +96,30 @@ impl Error {
             ErrorPos((*pos.filename).clone(), pos.line, pos.line_offset),
             message).into()
     }
+
+    pub fn custom<T: StdError + 'static>(err: T)
+        -> Error
+    {
+        ErrorEnum::CustomError(None, Box::new(err)).into()
+    }
+
+    pub fn custom_at<T: StdError + 'static>(pos: &Pos, err: T)
+        -> Error
+    {
+        ErrorEnum::CustomError(
+            Some(ErrorPos((*pos.filename).clone(), pos.line, pos.line_offset)),
+            Box::new(err)).into()
+    }
+
+    pub fn downcast_ref<T: StdError + 'static>(&self) -> Option<&T> {
+        match self.0 {
+            ErrorEnum::OpenError(_, ref e) => {
+                (e as &StdError).downcast_ref::<T>()
+            },
+            ErrorEnum::CustomError(_, ref e) => e.downcast_ref::<T>(),
+            _ => None,
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 /// List of errors that were encountered during configuration file parsing
@@ -170,8 +205,8 @@ pub fn add_info<T>(pos: &Pos, path: &String, result: Result<T, Error>)
     -> Result<T, Error>
 {
     match result {
-        Err(Error(ErrorEnum::Custom(e))) => {
-            Err(Error::decode_error(pos, path, e))
+        Err(Error(ErrorEnum::SerdeError(e))) => {
+            Err(Error::decode_error(pos, path, format!("{}", e)))
         }
         result => result,
     }
diff --git a/src/validate.rs b/src/validate.rs
index 2a21207..6af11a3 100644
--- a/src/validate.rs
+++ b/src/validate.rs
@@ -713,10 +713,13 @@ impl Validator for Nothing {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test {
+    use std::fmt;
     use std::rc::Rc;
     use std::path::PathBuf;
     use std::collections::BTreeMap;
     use std::collections::HashMap;
+    use std::error::Error as StdError;
+
     use serde::Deserialize;
 
     use {Options};
@@ -728,8 +731,9 @@ mod test {
     use {parse_string, ErrorList};
     use validate::{Validator, Structure, Scalar, Numeric, Mapping, Sequence};
     use validate::{Enum, Nothing, Directory, Anything};
-    use errors::ErrorCollector;
+    use errors::{Error, ErrorCollector};
     use self::TestEnum::*;
+    use super::Pos;
 
     #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize)]
     struct TestStruct {
@@ -1453,4 +1457,71 @@ mod test {
     fn test_enum_def_tag() {
         assert_eq!(parse_enum_def("!Alpha"), TestEnumDef::Alpha);
     }
+
+    #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize)]
+    struct Version;
+
+    #[derive(Debug)]
+    struct VersionError(&'static str);
+
+    impl StdError for VersionError {
+        fn description(&self) -> &str { "Version Error" }
+        fn cause(&self) -> Option<&StdError> { None }
+    }
+
+    impl fmt::Display for VersionError {
+        fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+            write!(f, "{}: {}", self.description(), self.0)
+        }
+    }
+
+    impl Version {
+        fn new() -> Version {
+            Version {}
+        }
+    }
+
+    impl Validator for Version {
+        fn default(&self, pos: Pos) -> Option<A> {
+            None
+        }
+
+        fn validate(&self, ast: A, err: &ErrorCollector) -> A {
+            match ast {
+                A::Scalar(pos, tag, kind, version) => {
+                    if !version.starts_with("v") {
+                        err.add_error(Error::custom_at(
+                            &pos,
+                            VersionError("Version must start with 'v'")))
+                    }
+                    A::Scalar(pos, tag, kind, version)
+                },
+                ast => {
+                    err.add_error(Error::validation_error(
+                        &ast.pos(), format!("Version must be a scalar value")));
+                    ast
+                },
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn parse_version(body: &str) -> Result<Version, ErrorList> {
+        let validator = Version::new();
+        parse_string("<inline text>", body, &validator, &Options::default())
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_custom_error() {
+        let err = parse_version("0.0.1").unwrap_err();
+        let error = err.errors().nth(0).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            format!("{}", error),
+            "<inline text>:1:1: Version Error: Version must start with 'v'");
+        match error.downcast_ref::<VersionError>() {
+            Some(&VersionError(msg)) => {
+                assert_eq!(msg, "Version must start with 'v'")
+            },
+            e => panic!("Custom error must be VersionError but was: {:?}", e),
+        }
+    }
 }