diff --git a/src/proto/flwr/proto/error.proto b/src/proto/flwr/proto/error.proto
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a35af7f8af67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/proto/flwr/proto/error.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// Copyright 2024 Flower Labs GmbH. All Rights Reserved.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+// ==============================================================================
+
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+package flwr.proto;
+
+message Error {
+  sint64 code = 1;
+  string reason = 2;
+}
diff --git a/src/proto/flwr/proto/task.proto b/src/proto/flwr/proto/task.proto
index 7ae0c31fded5..423df76f1335 100644
--- a/src/proto/flwr/proto/task.proto
+++ b/src/proto/flwr/proto/task.proto
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ package flwr.proto;
 import "flwr/proto/node.proto";
 import "flwr/proto/recordset.proto";
 import "flwr/proto/transport.proto";
+import "flwr/proto/error.proto";
 
 message Task {
   Node producer = 1;
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ message Task {
   repeated string ancestry = 6;
   string task_type = 7;
   RecordSet recordset = 8;
+  Error error = 9;
 }
 
 message TaskIns {