diff --git a/doc/api/repl.markdown b/doc/api/repl.markdown
index e5081c3c8db..0ae8a9a9320 100644
--- a/doc/api/repl.markdown
+++ b/doc/api/repl.markdown
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ For example, you could add this to your bashrc file:
 
 ## repl.start(options)
 
-Returns and starts a `REPLServer` instance, that inherits from 
-[Readline Interface][]. Accepts an "options" Object that takes 
+Returns and starts a `REPLServer` instance, that inherits from
+[Readline Interface][]. Accepts an "options" Object that takes
 the following values:
 
  - `prompt` - the prompt and `stream` for all I/O. Defaults to `> `.
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ the following values:
  - `eval` - function that will be used to eval each given line. Defaults to
    an async wrapper for `eval()`. See below for an example of a custom `eval`.
 
+ - `recoverable` - function that will return a `bool` when passed an error and report if it is recoverable. Use if your `eval` returns non-standard errors but you still want the benefits of multiline input.
+
  - `useColors` - a boolean which specifies whether or not the `writer` function
    should output colors. If a different `writer` function is set then this does
    nothing. Defaults to the repl's `terminal` value.
diff --git a/lib/repl.js b/lib/repl.js
index 3bb145bb44f..7a5bec4f049 100644
--- a/lib/repl.js
+++ b/lib/repl.js
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ function REPLServer(prompt, stream, eval_, useGlobal, ignoreUndefined) {
     return new REPLServer(prompt, stream, eval_, useGlobal, ignoreUndefined);
   }
 
-  var options, input, output, dom;
+  var options, input, output, dom, recoverableCheck;
   if (util.isObject(prompt)) {
     // an options object was given
     options = prompt;
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ function REPLServer(prompt, stream, eval_, useGlobal, ignoreUndefined) {
     ignoreUndefined = options.ignoreUndefined;
     prompt = options.prompt;
     dom = options.domain;
+    recoverableCheck = options.recoverable || isRecoverableError;
   } else if (!util.isString(prompt)) {
     throw new Error('An options Object, or a prompt String are required');
   } else {
@@ -122,10 +123,7 @@ function REPLServer(prompt, stream, eval_, useGlobal, ignoreUndefined) {
       });
     } catch (e) {
       debug('parse error %j', code, e);
-      if (isRecoverableError(e))
-        err = new Recoverable(e);
-      else
-        err = e;
+      err = e;
     }
 
     if (!err) {
@@ -298,7 +296,7 @@ function REPLServer(prompt, stream, eval_, useGlobal, ignoreUndefined) {
 
       // If error was SyntaxError and not JSON.parse error
       if (e) {
-        if (e instanceof Recoverable) {
+        if (recoverableCheck(e)) {
           // Start buffering data like that:
           // {
           // ...  x: 1
@@ -953,8 +951,3 @@ function isRecoverableError(e) {
       e.name === 'SyntaxError' &&
       /^(Unexpected end of input|Unexpected token)/.test(e.message);
 }
-
-function Recoverable(err) {
-  this.err = err;
-}
-inherits(Recoverable, SyntaxError);
diff --git a/test/simple/test-repl-options.js b/test/simple/test-repl-options.js
index 94a622da260..9652d69a2dd 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-repl-options.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-repl-options.js
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ assert.equal(r1.useColors, r1.rli.terminal);
 // 2
 function writer() {}
 function evaler() {}
+function recoverTester() {}
 var r2 = repl.start({
   input: stream,
   output: stream,
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@ var r2 = repl.start({
   useGlobal: true,
   ignoreUndefined: true,
   eval: evaler,
+  recoverable: recoverTester,
   writer: writer
 });
 assert.equal(r2.input, stream);