diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8e6867ca..670ab992 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -603,6 +603,7 @@ if(WITH_TESTS)
     compat_test
     dwarfs_test
     entry_test
+    error_test
     file_access_test
     fragment_category_test
     incompressible_categorizer_test
@@ -1020,6 +1021,7 @@ foreach(tgt dwarfs dwarfs_compression dwarfs_categorizer
       target_link_options(${tgt} PRIVATE -fprofile-instr-generate
                           -fcoverage-mapping)
     endif()
+    target_compile_definitions(${tgt} PRIVATE DWARFS_COVERAGE_ENABLED=1)
   endif()
 endforeach()
 
diff --git a/src/dwarfs/error.cpp b/src/dwarfs/error.cpp
index b32df62d..26f0fe40 100644
--- a/src/dwarfs/error.cpp
+++ b/src/dwarfs/error.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,18 @@
 
 namespace dwarfs {
 
+namespace {
+
+[[noreturn]] void do_terminate() {
+#ifdef DWARFS_COVERAGE_ENABLED
+  std::exit(99);
+#else
+  std::terminate();
+#endif
+}
+
+} // namespace
+
 system_error::system_error(char const* file, int line) noexcept
     : system_error(errno, file, line) {}
 
@@ -68,14 +80,14 @@ void handle_nothrow(char const* expr, char const* file, int line) {
   std::cerr << "Expression `" << expr << "` threw `"
             << folly::exceptionStr(std::current_exception()) << "` in " << file
             << "(" << line << ")\n";
-  ::abort();
+  do_terminate();
 }
 
 void assertion_failed(char const* expr, std::string const& msg,
                       char const* file, int line) {
   std::cerr << "Assertion `" << expr << "` failed in " << file << "(" << line
             << "): " << msg << "\n";
-  ::abort();
+  do_terminate();
 }
 
 } // namespace dwarfs
diff --git a/test/error_test.cpp b/test/error_test.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b202a95c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/error_test.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+/* vim:set ts=2 sw=2 sts=2 et: */
+/**
+ * \author     Marcus Holland-Moritz (github@mhxnet.de)
+ * \copyright  Copyright (c) Marcus Holland-Moritz
+ *
+ * This file is part of dwarfs.
+ *
+ * dwarfs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * dwarfs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with dwarfs.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#include <cerrno>
+#include <filesystem>
+
+#include <gmock/gmock.h>
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+
+#include <folly/String.h>
+
+#include "dwarfs/error.h"
+
+using namespace dwarfs;
+
+namespace {
+
+int test_throw_runtime_error(bool throw_it) {
+  if (throw_it) {
+    DWARFS_THROW(runtime_error, "my test error");
+  }
+  return __LINE__ - 2;
+}
+
+int test_throw_system_error(bool throw_it) {
+  if (throw_it) {
+    errno = EPERM;
+    DWARFS_THROW(system_error, "my test system error");
+  }
+  return __LINE__ - 2;
+}
+
+} // namespace
+
+TEST(error_test, runtime_error) {
+  int expected_line = test_throw_runtime_error(false);
+
+  try {
+    test_throw_runtime_error(true);
+    FAIL() << "expected runtime_error to be thrown";
+  } catch (const runtime_error& e) {
+    EXPECT_EQ("my test error", std::string(e.what()));
+    EXPECT_EQ("error_test.cpp",
+              std::filesystem::path(e.file()).filename().string());
+    EXPECT_EQ(expected_line, e.line());
+  } catch (...) {
+    FAIL() << "expected runtime_error, got "
+           << folly::exceptionStr(std::current_exception());
+  }
+}
+
+TEST(error_test, system_error) {
+  int expected_line = test_throw_system_error(false);
+
+  try {
+    test_throw_system_error(true);
+    FAIL() << "expected system_error to be thrown";
+  } catch (const system_error& e) {
+    EXPECT_THAT(std::string(e.what()),
+                ::testing::MatchesRegex("my test system error: .*"));
+    EXPECT_EQ("error_test.cpp",
+              std::filesystem::path(e.file()).filename().string());
+    EXPECT_EQ(EPERM, e.get_errno());
+    EXPECT_EQ(expected_line, e.line());
+  } catch (...) {
+    FAIL() << "expected system_error, got "
+           << folly::exceptionStr(std::current_exception());
+  }
+}
+
+TEST(error_test, dwarfs_check) {
+  DWARFS_CHECK(true, "my test error");
+  EXPECT_DEATH(DWARFS_CHECK(false, "my test error"), "my test error");
+}
+
+TEST(error_test, dwarfs_nothrow) {
+  std::vector<int> v{1, 2, 3};
+  EXPECT_EQ(3, DWARFS_NOTHROW(v.at(2)));
+  EXPECT_DEATH(DWARFS_NOTHROW(v.at(3)), "Expression `v.at\\(3\\)` threw .*");
+}