diff --git a/example/rpc_client.cpp b/example/rpc_client.cpp
index fba4fde..2d80222 100644
--- a/example/rpc_client.cpp
+++ b/example/rpc_client.cpp
@@ -36,13 +36,17 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
     // Create a client context
     auto ctxt(client::Context::fromEnv());
 
-    auto reply(ctxt.rpc(argv[1])
-                   .arg("lhs", argv[2])
-                   .arg("rhs", argv[3])
-                   .exec()
-                   ->wait(5.0));
+    try {
+        auto reply(ctxt.rpc(argv[1])
+                       .arg("lhs", argv[2])
+                       .arg("rhs", argv[3])
+                       .exec()
+                       ->wait(5.0));
 
-    std::cout<<"Reply\n"<<reply;
-
-    return 0;
+        std::cout<<"Reply\n"<<reply;
+        return 0;
+    } catch(std::exception& e){
+        std::cerr<<"Error: "<<e.what()<<"\n";
+        return 1;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/example/rpc_server.cpp b/example/rpc_server.cpp
index a1d4204..04d2bbd 100644
--- a/example/rpc_server.cpp
+++ b/example/rpc_server.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include <iostream>
 
 #include <epicsTime.h>
+#include <alarm.h>
 
 #include <pvxs/sharedpv.h>
 #include <pvxs/server.h>
@@ -48,14 +49,21 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
                 std::unique_ptr<server::ExecOp>&& op,
                 Value&& top)
     {
-        // Callback
-
-        // assume arguments encoded NTURI
-        auto rhs = top["query.rhs"].as<double>();
-        auto lhs = top["query.lhs"].as<double>();
+        // Callback on PVXS worker thread
 
         auto reply(nt::NTScalar{TypeCode::Float64}.create());
-        reply["value"] = lhs + rhs;
+
+        try {
+            // assume arguments encoded NTURI
+            auto rhs = top["query.rhs"].as<double>();
+            auto lhs = top["query.lhs"].as<double>();
+
+            reply["value"] = lhs + rhs;
+
+        } catch(std::exception& e){
+            reply["alarm.severity"] = INVALID_ALARM;
+            reply["alarm.message"] = e.what();
+        }
 
         op->reply(reply);
         // Scale-able applications may reply outside of this callback,