diff --git a/desktop/browser_window.c b/desktop/browser_window.c
index 226741be5..57da7d56e 100644
--- a/desktop/browser_window.c
+++ b/desktop/browser_window.c
@@ -1338,6 +1338,24 @@ browser_window__handle_fetcherror(struct browser_window *bw,
 
 	memset(&params, 0, sizeof(params));
 
+	/* If it is the error page itself that failed, navigating to the error
+	 * page again lands straight back here. Nothing bounds that: the pair
+	 * recurses, allocating a content per turn, until the heap is gone and
+	 * the real failure is buried under hundreds of retries. Report the
+	 * reason and stop instead. */
+	if (nsurl_compare(url, corestring_nsurl_about_query_fetcherror,
+			  NSURL_COMPLETE)) {
+		NSLOG(netsurf, WARNING,
+		      "error page itself failed: %s -- not retrying", reason);
+		fprintf(stderr,
+			"netsurf: error page failed (%s); giving up\n", reason);
+		browser_window_set_status(bw, reason);
+		return browser_window_stop_throbber(bw);
+	}
+
+	fprintf(stderr, "netsurf: fetch of '%s' failed: %s\n",
+		nsurl_access(url), reason);
+
 	params.url = nsurl_ref(corestring_nsurl_about_query_fetcherror);
 	params.referrer = nsurl_ref(url);
 	params.flags = BW_NAVIGATE_HISTORY | BW_NAVIGATE_NO_TERMINAL_HISTORY_UPDATE | BW_NAVIGATE_INTERNAL;