diff --git a/core/src/main/java/io/confluent/rest/exceptions/RestServerErrorException.java b/core/src/main/java/io/confluent/rest/exceptions/RestServerErrorException.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..efdf105728
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/main/java/io/confluent/rest/exceptions/RestServerErrorException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+package io.confluent.rest.exceptions;
+
+import javax.ws.rs.core.Response;
+
+public class RestServerErrorException extends RestException {
+
+  public RestServerErrorException(String message, int errorCode) {
+    this(message, errorCode, null);
+  }
+
+  public RestServerErrorException(String message, int errorCode, Throwable cause) {
+    super(message, Response.Status.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR.getStatusCode(), errorCode, cause);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/io/confluent/rest/ExceptionHandlingTest.java b/core/src/test/java/io/confluent/rest/ExceptionHandlingTest.java
index 17bb4cf22f..2352be9dba 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/io/confluent/rest/ExceptionHandlingTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/io/confluent/rest/ExceptionHandlingTest.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 
 import io.confluent.rest.entities.ErrorMessage;
 import io.confluent.rest.exceptions.RestNotFoundException;
+import io.confluent.rest.exceptions.RestServerErrorException;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 
@@ -86,7 +87,7 @@ public void testNonRestException() {
   public void testUnexpectedException() {
     // Under non-debug mode, this uses a completely generic message since unexpected errors
     // is the one case we want to be certain we don't leak extra info
-    testAppException("/unexpected", 500, 500,
+    testAppException("/unexpected", 500, 50001,
                      Response.Status.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR.getReasonPhrase());
   }
 
@@ -122,7 +123,7 @@ public String notFound() {
     @GET
     @Path("/unexpected")
     public String unexpected() {
-      throw new RuntimeException("Internal server error.");
+      throw new RestServerErrorException("Internal Server Error", 50001);
     }
   }