diff --git a/src/backend/elasticsearch.js b/src/backend/elasticsearch.js
index bcab5d95..bee8d9ba 100644
--- a/src/backend/elasticsearch.js
+++ b/src/backend/elasticsearch.js
@@ -213,6 +213,12 @@ this.recline.Backend.ElasticSearch = this.recline.Backend.ElasticSearch || {};
           results.hits.facets = results.facets;
         }
         dfd.resolve(results.hits);
+      }).fail(function(errorObj) {
+        var out = {
+          title: 'Failed: ' + errorObj.status + ' code',
+          message: errorObj.responseText
+        };
+        dfd.reject(out);
       });
       return dfd.promise();
     };
diff --git a/test/backend/elasticsearch.test.js b/test/backend/elasticsearch.test.js
index 0c08607f..91affe18 100644
--- a/test/backend/elasticsearch.test.js
+++ b/test/backend/elasticsearch.test.js
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ test("query", function() {
       return {
         done: function(callback) {
           callback(sample_data);
+          return this;
         },
         fail: function() {
         }
@@ -224,10 +225,11 @@ test("query", function() {
       return {
         done: function(callback) {
           callback(sample_data);
+          return this;
         },
         fail: function() {
         }
-      }
+      };
     }
   });