diff --git a/include/communication/bolt/v1/serialization/bolt_serializer.hpp b/include/communication/bolt/v1/serialization/bolt_serializer.hpp
index 73578a121..6abab5245 100644
--- a/include/communication/bolt/v1/serialization/bolt_serializer.hpp
+++ b/include/communication/bolt/v1/serialization/bolt_serializer.hpp
@@ -95,6 +95,16 @@ public:
 
     void write(const String &prop) { encoder.write_string(prop.value); }
 
+    void write_failure(const std::map<std::string, std::string>& data)
+    {
+        encoder.message_failure();
+        encoder.write_map_header(data.size());
+        for (auto const &kv : data) {
+            write(kv.first);
+            write(kv.second);
+        }
+    }
+
     template <class T>
     void handle(const T &prop)
     {
diff --git a/include/communication/bolt/v1/serialization/record_stream.hpp b/include/communication/bolt/v1/serialization/record_stream.hpp
index 93bd7c4e2..45b23683f 100644
--- a/include/communication/bolt/v1/serialization/record_stream.hpp
+++ b/include/communication/bolt/v1/serialization/record_stream.hpp
@@ -92,6 +92,11 @@ public:
         chunk();
     }
 
+    void write_failure(const std::map<std::string, std::string>& data)
+    {
+        serializer.write_failure(data);
+        chunk();        
+    }
     // -- BOLT SPECIFIC METHODS -----------------------------------------------
 
     void write(const VertexAccessor &vertex) { serializer.write(vertex); }
diff --git a/include/communication/bolt/v1/transport/bolt_encoder.hpp b/include/communication/bolt/v1/transport/bolt_encoder.hpp
index 29a41207d..dba6ab9be 100644
--- a/include/communication/bolt/v1/transport/bolt_encoder.hpp
+++ b/include/communication/bolt/v1/transport/bolt_encoder.hpp
@@ -253,6 +253,12 @@ public:
         write(underlying_cast(MessageCode::Ignored));
     }
 
+    void message_failure()
+    {
+        write_struct_header(1);
+        write(underlying_cast(MessageCode::Failure));
+    }
+
     void message_ignored_empty()
     {
         message_ignored();
diff --git a/src/communication/bolt/v1/states/executor.cpp b/src/communication/bolt/v1/states/executor.cpp
index 589860ba5..b8e7e9777 100644
--- a/src/communication/bolt/v1/states/executor.cpp
+++ b/src/communication/bolt/v1/states/executor.cpp
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ namespace bolt
 
 Executor::Executor() : logger(logging::log->logger("Executor")) {}
 
-State* Executor::run(Session& session)
+State *Executor::run(Session &session)
 {
     // just read one byte that represents the struct type, we can skip the
     // information contained in this byte
@@ -20,31 +20,22 @@ State* Executor::run(Session& session)
 
     auto message_type = session.decoder.read_byte();
 
-    if(message_type == MessageCode::Run)
-    {
+    if (message_type == MessageCode::Run) {
         Query q;
 
         q.statement = session.decoder.read_string();
 
         this->run(session, q);
-    }
-    else if(message_type == MessageCode::PullAll)
-    {
+    } else if (message_type == MessageCode::PullAll) {
         pull_all(session);
-    }
-    else if(message_type == MessageCode::DiscardAll)
-    {
+    } else if (message_type == MessageCode::DiscardAll) {
         discard_all(session);
-    }
-    else if(message_type == MessageCode::Reset)
-    {
+    } else if (message_type == MessageCode::Reset) {
         // todo rollback current transaction
         // discard all records waiting to be sent
 
         return this;
-    }
-    else
-    {
+    } else {
         logger.error("Unrecognized message recieved");
         logger.debug("Invalid message type 0x{:02X}", message_type);
 
@@ -54,7 +45,7 @@ State* Executor::run(Session& session)
     return this;
 }
 
-void Executor::run(Session& session, Query& query)
+void Executor::run(Session &session, Query &query)
 {
     logger.trace("[Run] '{}'", query.statement);
 
@@ -64,18 +55,20 @@ void Executor::run(Session& session, Query& query)
     try {
         query_engine.execute(query.statement, db, session.output_stream);
     } catch (QueryEngineException &e) {
-        // return error to user
+        session.output_stream.write_failure(
+            {{"code", "unknown"}, {"message", e.what()}});
+        session.output_stream.send();
     }
 }
 
-void Executor::pull_all(Session& session)
+void Executor::pull_all(Session &session)
 {
     logger.trace("[PullAll]");
 
     session.output_stream.send();
 }
 
-void Executor::discard_all(Session& session)
+void Executor::discard_all(Session &session)
 {
     logger.trace("[DiscardAll]");
 
@@ -85,5 +78,4 @@ void Executor::discard_all(Session& session)
     session.output_stream.chunk();
     session.output_stream.send();
 }
-
 }