diff --git a/bl1/bl1_main.c b/bl1/bl1_main.c
index dad64e259f5aad9f9afd285be5de30f63feab248..50cf4e0d858bd0d2c2802a8096ead74db63f1c1d 100644
--- a/bl1/bl1_main.c
+++ b/bl1/bl1_main.c
@@ -174,12 +174,8 @@ void bl1_main(void)
 			 &bl2_ep);
 
 	if (err) {
-		/*
-		 * TODO: print failure to load BL2 but also add a tzwdog timer
-		 * which will reset the system eventually.
-		 */
 		ERROR("Failed to load BL2 firmware.\n");
-		panic();
+		plat_error_handler(err);
 	}
 
 	/*
diff --git a/bl2/bl2_main.c b/bl2/bl2_main.c
index 404744b7892b22b470505f189c01261fafdf7f27..f8a2372fe5ee91c36f95684287f43dc6848029c7 100644
--- a/bl2/bl2_main.c
+++ b/bl2/bl2_main.c
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ void bl2_main(void)
 	e = load_bl30();
 	if (e) {
 		ERROR("Failed to load BL3-0 (%i)\n", e);
-		panic();
+		plat_error_handler(e);
 	}
 
 	/* Perform platform setup in BL2 after loading BL3-0 */
@@ -235,14 +235,14 @@ void bl2_main(void)
 	e = load_bl31(bl2_to_bl31_params, bl31_ep_info);
 	if (e) {
 		ERROR("Failed to load BL3-1 (%i)\n", e);
-		panic();
+		plat_error_handler(e);
 	}
 
 	e = load_bl32(bl2_to_bl31_params);
 	if (e) {
 		if (e == -EAUTH) {
 			ERROR("Failed to authenticate BL3-2\n");
-			panic();
+			plat_error_handler(e);
 		} else {
 			WARN("Failed to load BL3-2 (%i)\n", e);
 		}
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ void bl2_main(void)
 	e = load_bl33(bl2_to_bl31_params);
 	if (e) {
 		ERROR("Failed to load BL3-3 (%i)\n", e);
-		panic();
+		plat_error_handler(e);
 	}
 
 	/* Flush the params to be passed to memory */
diff --git a/docs/porting-guide.md b/docs/porting-guide.md
index 08fef4a8e8a23d5f19a6d6d1844804bf4a951a27..6e71025cc6815cd7bf239a13ab393331186e1e04 100644
--- a/docs/porting-guide.md
+++ b/docs/porting-guide.md
@@ -650,6 +650,27 @@ it has restrictions for stack usage and it can use the registers x0 - x17 as
 scratch registers. It should preserve the value in x18 register as it is used
 by the caller to store the return address.
 
+### Function : plat_error_handler()
+
+    Argument : int
+    Return   : void
+
+This API is called when the generic code encounters an error situation from
+which it cannot continue. It allows the platform to perform error reporting or
+recovery actions (for example, reset the system). This function must not return.
+
+The parameter indicates the type of error using standard codes from `errno.h`.
+Possible errors reported by the generic code are:
+
+*   `-EAUTH`: a certificate or image could not be authenticated (when Trusted
+    Board Boot is enabled)
+*   `-ENOENT`: the requested image or certificate could not be found or an IO
+    error was detected
+*   `-ENOMEM`: resources exhausted. Trusted Firmware does not use dynamic
+    memory, so this error is usually an indication of an incorrect array size
+
+The default implementation simply spins.
+
 
 3.  Modifications specific to a Boot Loader stage
 -------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/include/plat/common/platform.h b/include/plat/common/platform.h
index 8071f39424c1ce325fdcf6f1b0f1204da19edf75..de9848b7c19f6c0df82c105e5d661ef402ff8f77 100644
--- a/include/plat/common/platform.h
+++ b/include/plat/common/platform.h
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ unsigned long plat_get_my_stack(void);
 void plat_report_exception(unsigned long);
 int plat_crash_console_init(void);
 int plat_crash_console_putc(int c);
+void plat_error_handler(int err) __dead2;
 
 /*******************************************************************************
  * Mandatory BL1 functions
diff --git a/plat/common/aarch64/platform_helpers.S b/plat/common/aarch64/platform_helpers.S
index f51d24e6d12f8d18302b07137ec0e091a85c8f0b..56b88bc0e5ae04173a16dd7251cf759d480df62b 100644
--- a/plat/common/aarch64/platform_helpers.S
+++ b/plat/common/aarch64/platform_helpers.S
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 	.weak	plat_reset_handler
 	.weak	plat_disable_acp
 	.weak	bl1_plat_prepare_exit
+	.weak	plat_error_handler
 
 #if !ENABLE_PLAT_COMPAT
 	.globl	platform_get_core_pos
@@ -121,3 +122,12 @@ endfunc plat_disable_acp
 func bl1_plat_prepare_exit
 	ret
 endfunc bl1_plat_prepare_exit
+
+	/* -----------------------------------------------------
+	 * void plat_error_handler(int err) __dead2;
+	 * Endless loop by default.
+	 * -----------------------------------------------------
+	 */
+func plat_error_handler
+	b	plat_error_handler
+endfunc plat_error_handler