diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7526ea3..f7e6990 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,13 +10,13 @@ This library provides Go clients for [OpenAI API](https://platform.openai.com/).
 * DALL·E 2
 * Whisper
 
-Installation:
+### Installation:
 ```
 go get github.com/sashabaranov/go-openai
 ```
 
 
-ChatGPT example usage:
+### ChatGPT example usage:
 
 ```go
 package main
@@ -52,9 +52,7 @@ func main() {
 
 ```
 
-
-
-Other examples:
+### Other examples:
 
 <details>
 <summary>ChatGPT streaming completion</summary>
@@ -462,3 +460,29 @@ func main() {
 }
 ```
 </details>
+
+<details>
+<summary>Error handling</summary>
+
+Open-AI maintains clear documentation on how to [handle API errors](https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/error-codes/api-errors)
+
+example:
+```
+e := &openai.APIError{}
+if errors.As(err, &e) {
+  switch e.HTTPStatusCode {
+    case 401:
+      // invalid auth or key (do not retry)
+    case 429:
+      // rate limiting or engine overload (wait and retry) 
+    case 500:
+      // openai server error (retry)
+    default:
+      // unhandled
+  }
+}
+
+```
+</details>
+
+
diff --git a/client.go b/client.go
index b3d7595..0f8aa41 100644
--- a/client.go
+++ b/client.go
@@ -149,15 +149,16 @@ func (c *Client) handleErrorResp(resp *http.Response) error {
 	var errRes ErrorResponse
 	err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&errRes)
 	if err != nil || errRes.Error == nil {
-		reqErr := RequestError{
+		reqErr := &RequestError{
 			HTTPStatusCode: resp.StatusCode,
 			Err:            err,
 		}
 		if errRes.Error != nil {
 			reqErr.Err = errRes.Error
 		}
-		return fmt.Errorf("error, %w", &reqErr)
+		return reqErr
 	}
+
 	errRes.Error.HTTPStatusCode = resp.StatusCode
-	return fmt.Errorf("error, status code: %d, message: %w", resp.StatusCode, errRes.Error)
+	return errRes.Error
 }
diff --git a/client_test.go b/client_test.go
index 7ef6284..e30fa39 100644
--- a/client_test.go
+++ b/client_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package openai //nolint:testpackage // testing private field
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
@@ -106,7 +107,7 @@ func TestHandleErrorResp(t *testing.T) {
 					}
 				}`,
 			)),
-			expected: "error, status code 401, message: Access denied due to Virtual Network/Firewall rules.",
+			expected: "error, status code: 401, message: Access denied due to Virtual Network/Firewall rules.",
 		},
 		{
 			name:     "503 Model Overloaded",
@@ -135,6 +136,12 @@ func TestHandleErrorResp(t *testing.T) {
 				t.Errorf("Unexpected error: %v , expected: %s", err, tc.expected)
 				t.Fail()
 			}
+
+			e := &APIError{}
+			if !errors.As(err, &e) {
+				t.Errorf("(%s) Expected error to be of type APIError", tc.name)
+				t.Fail()
+			}
 		})
 	}
 }
diff --git a/error.go b/error.go
index 86b75f4..6354f43 100644
--- a/error.go
+++ b/error.go
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ type ErrorResponse struct {
 }
 
 func (e *APIError) Error() string {
+	if e.HTTPStatusCode > 0 {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("error, status code: %d, message: %s", e.HTTPStatusCode, e.Message)
+	}
+
 	return e.Message
 }
 
@@ -70,7 +74,7 @@ func (e *APIError) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) (err error) {
 }
 
 func (e *RequestError) Error() string {
-	return fmt.Sprintf("status code %d, message: %s", e.HTTPStatusCode, e.Err)
+	return fmt.Sprintf("error, status code: %d, message: %s", e.HTTPStatusCode, e.Err)
 }
 
 func (e *RequestError) Unwrap() error {