diff --git a/awesome.c b/awesome.c
index bc73e337d..413b64c90 100644
--- a/awesome.c
+++ b/awesome.c
@@ -145,6 +145,9 @@ awesome_atexit(bool restart)
 
     /* Disconnect *after* closing lua */
     xcb_cursor_context_free(globalconf.cursor_ctx);
+#ifdef WITH_XCB_ERRORS
+    xcb_errors_context_free(globalconf.errors_ctx);
+#endif
     xcb_disconnect(globalconf.connection);
 
     close(sigchld_pipe[0]);
@@ -751,6 +754,11 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
                 globalconf.visual->visual_id);
     }
 
+#ifdef WITH_XCB_ERRORS
+    if (xcb_errors_context_new(globalconf.connection, &globalconf.errors_ctx) < 0)
+        fatal("Failed to initialize xcb-errors");
+#endif
+
     /* Get a recent timestamp */
     acquire_timestamp();
 
diff --git a/awesomeConfig.cmake b/awesomeConfig.cmake
index 8d903161b..4592001c0 100644
--- a/awesomeConfig.cmake
+++ b/awesomeConfig.cmake
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ autoOption(GENERATE_MANPAGES "generate manpages")
 option(COMPRESS_MANPAGES "compress manpages" ON)
 option(GENERATE_DOC "generate API documentation" ON)
 option(DO_COVERAGE "build with coverage" OFF)
+autoOption(WITH_XCB_ERRORS "build with xcb-errors")
 if (GENERATE_DOC AND DO_COVERAGE)
     message(STATUS "Not generating API documentation with DO_COVERAGE")
     set(GENERATE_DOC OFF)
@@ -213,6 +214,16 @@ if(WITH_DBUS)
         autoDisable(WITH_DBUS "DBus not found.")
     endif()
 endif()
+
+if(WITH_XCB_ERRORS)
+    pkg_check_modules(XCB_ERRORS xcb-errors)
+    if(XCB_ERRORS_FOUND)
+        set(AWESOME_OPTIONAL_LDFLAGS ${AWESOME_OPTIONAL_LDFLAGS} ${XCB_ERRORS_LDFLAGS})
+        set(AWESOME_OPTIONAL_INCLUDE_DIRS ${AWESOME_OPTIONAL_INCLUDE_DIRS} ${XCB_ERRORS_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+    else()
+        autoDisable(WITH_XCB_ERRORS "xcb-errors not found.")
+    endif()
+endif()
 # }}}
 
 # {{{ Install path and configuration variables
diff --git a/common/version.c b/common/version.c
index 0a5ff1f2d..00833a952 100644
--- a/common/version.c
+++ b/common/version.c
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@ eprint_version(void)
 #else
     const char *has_dbus = "✘";
 #endif
+#ifdef WITH_XCB_ERRORS
+    const char *has_xcb_errors = "✔";
+#else
+    const char *has_xcb_errors = "✘";
+#endif
 #ifdef HAS_EXECINFO
     const char *has_execinfo = "✔";
 #else
@@ -63,12 +68,13 @@ eprint_version(void)
     printf("awesome %s (%s)\n"
            " • Compiled against %s (running with %s)\n"
            " • D-Bus support: %s\n"
+           " • xcb-errors support: %s\n"
            " • execinfo support: %s\n"
            " • xcb-randr version: %d.%d\n"
            " • LGI version: %s\n",
            AWESOME_VERSION, AWESOME_RELEASE,
            LUA_RELEASE, lua_tostring(L, -2),
-           has_dbus, has_execinfo,
+           has_dbus, has_xcb_errors, has_execinfo,
            XCB_RANDR_MAJOR_VERSION, XCB_RANDR_MINOR_VERSION,
            lua_tostring(L, -1));
     lua_close(L);
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 3ec9d7677..1ecc79ac2 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #define AWESOME_DEFAULT_CONF  "@AWESOME_SYSCONFDIR@/rc.lua"
 
 #cmakedefine WITH_DBUS
+#cmakedefine WITH_XCB_ERRORS
 #cmakedefine HAS_EXECINFO
 
 #endif //_CONFIG_H_
diff --git a/docs/01-readme.md b/docs/01-readme.md
index 7a997d5a8..d83d5b284 100644
--- a/docs/01-readme.md
+++ b/docs/01-readme.md
@@ -102,6 +102,8 @@ Additionally, the following optional dependencies exist:
   generate slightly better backtraces on crashes
 - `Xephyr` or `Xvfb` for running integration tests
 - [GTK+ >= 3.10](https://www.gtk.org/) for `./themes/gtk/`
+- [xcb-errors](https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/lib/libxcb-errors) for
+  pretty-printing of X11 errors
 
 ## Running Awesome
 
diff --git a/event.c b/event.c
index 94b6b8fd7..989c0110c 100644
--- a/event.c
+++ b/event.c
@@ -1036,10 +1036,24 @@ xerror(xcb_generic_error_t *e)
            && e->major_code == XCB_CONFIGURE_WINDOW))
         return;
 
-    warn("X error: request=%s (major %d, minor %d), error=%s (%d)",
-         xcb_event_get_request_label(e->major_code),
+#ifdef WITH_XCB_ERRORS
+    const char *major = xcb_errors_get_name_for_major_code(
+            globalconf.errors_ctx, e->major_code);
+    const char *minor = xcb_errors_get_name_for_minor_code(
+            globalconf.errors_ctx, e->major_code, e->minor_code);
+    const char *extension = NULL;
+    const char *error = xcb_errors_get_name_for_error(
+            globalconf.errors_ctx, e->error_code, &extension);
+#else
+    const char *major = xcb_event_get_request_label(e->major_code);
+    const char *minor = NULL;
+    const char *extension = NULL;
+    const char *error = xcb_event_get_error_label(e->error_code);
+#endif
+    warn("X error: request=%s%s%s (major %d, minor %d), error=%s%s%s (%d)",
+         major, minor == NULL ? "" : "-", NONULL(minor),
          e->major_code, e->minor_code,
-         xcb_event_get_error_label(e->error_code),
+         NONULL(extension), extension == NULL ? "" : "-", error,
          e->error_code);
 
     return;
diff --git a/globalconf.h b/globalconf.h
index 6ef0d2062..aec479f8f 100644
--- a/globalconf.h
+++ b/globalconf.h
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@
 #include <xcb/xcb_xrm.h>
 #include <X11/Xresource.h>
 
+#include "config.h"
+#ifdef WITH_XCB_ERRORS
+#include <xcb/xcb_errors.h>
+#endif
+
 #include "objects/key.h"
 #include "common/xembed.h"
 #include "common/buffer.h"
@@ -82,6 +87,10 @@ typedef struct
     int default_screen;
     /** xcb-cursor context */
     xcb_cursor_context_t *cursor_ctx;
+#ifdef WITH_XCB_ERRORS
+    /** xcb-errors context */
+    xcb_errors_context_t *errors_ctx;
+#endif
     /** Keys symbol table */
     xcb_key_symbols_t *keysyms;
     /** Logical screens */