diff --git a/system/database/DB_driver.php b/system/database/DB_driver.php
index 5f435e3..03a222f 100644
--- a/system/database/DB_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/DB_driver.php
@@ -330,30 +330,28 @@
 			// This will trigger a rollback if transactions are being used
 			$this->_trans_status = FALSE;
 
-			// Grab the error number and message now, as we might run some
-			// additional queries before displaying the error
-			$error_no = $this->_error_number();
-			$error_msg = $this->_error_message();
+			// Grab the error now, as we might run some additional queries before displaying the error
+			$error = $this->error();
 
 			// Log errors
-			log_message('error', 'Query error: '.$error_msg);
+			log_message('error', 'Query error: '.$error['message']);
 
 			if ($this->db_debug)
 			{
 				// We call this function in order to roll-back queries
-				// if transactions are enabled.  If we don't call this here
+				// if transactions are enabled. If we don't call this here
 				// the error message will trigger an exit, causing the
 				// transactions to remain in limbo.
 				$this->trans_complete();
 
 				// Display errors
 				return $this->display_error(
-										array(
-												'Error Number: '.$error_no,
-												$error_msg,
-												$sql
-											)
-										);
+								array(
+									'Error Number: '.$error['code'],
+									$error['message'],
+									$sql
+								)
+							);
 			}
 
 			return FALSE;
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/cubrid/cubrid_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/cubrid/cubrid_driver.php
index 42f08fb..cb33919 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/cubrid/cubrid_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/cubrid/cubrid_driver.php
@@ -453,31 +453,18 @@
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 	/**
-	 * The error message string
+	 * Error
 	 *
-	 * @access	private
-	 * @return	string
-	 */
-	function _error_message()
-	{
-		return cubrid_error($this->conn_id);
-	}
-
-	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-	/**
-	 * The error message number
+	 * Returns an array containing code and message of the last
+	 * database error that has occured.
 	 *
-	 * @access	private
-	 * @return	integer
+	 * @return	array
 	 */
-	function _error_number()
+	public function error()
 	{
-		return cubrid_errno($this->conn_id);
+		return array('code' => cubrid_errno($this->conn_id), 'message' => cubrid_error($this->conn_id));
 	}
 
-	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
 	/**
 	 * Escape the SQL Identifiers
 	 *
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/mssql/mssql_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/mssql/mssql_driver.php
index 2a4f2b5..188c91f 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/mssql/mssql_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/mssql/mssql_driver.php
@@ -438,28 +438,18 @@
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 	/**
-	 * The error message string
+	 * Error
 	 *
-	 * @access	private
-	 * @return	string
-	 */
-	function _error_message()
-	{
-		return mssql_get_last_message();
-	}
-
-	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-	/**
-	 * The error message number
+	 * Returns an array containing code and message of the last
+	 * database error that has occured.
 	 *
-	 * @access	private
-	 * @return	integer
+	 * @return	array
 	 */
-	function _error_number()
+	public function error()
 	{
-		// Are error numbers supported?
-		return '';
+		$query = $this->query('SELECT @@ERROR AS code');
+		$query = $query->row();
+		return array('code' => $query->code, 'message' => mssql_get_last_message());
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/mysql/mysql_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/mysql/mysql_driver.php
index c88a8a7..a7f08d1 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/mysql/mysql_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/mysql/mysql_driver.php
@@ -417,25 +417,16 @@
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 	/**
-	 * The error message string
+	 * Error
 	 *
-	 * @return	string
-	 */
-	protected function _error_message()
-	{
-		return mysql_error($this->conn_id);
-	}
-
-	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-	/**
-	 * The error message number
+	 * Returns an array containing code and message of the last
+	 * database error that has occured.
 	 *
-	 * @return	int
+	 * @return	array
 	 */
-	protected function _error_number()
+	public function error()
 	{
-		return mysql_errno($this->conn_id);
+		return array('code' => mysql_errno($this->conn_id), 'message' => mysql_error($this->conn_id));
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php
index dbba12e..0313713 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php
@@ -418,25 +418,16 @@
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 	/**
-	 * The error message string
+	 * Error
 	 *
-	 * @return	string
-	 */
-	protected function _error_message()
-	{
-		return mysqli_error($this->conn_id);
-	}
-
-	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-	/**
-	 * The error message number
+	 * Returns an array containing code and message of the last
+	 * database error that has occured.
 	 *
-	 * @return	int
+	 * @return	array
 	 */
-	protected function _error_number()
+	public function error()
 	{
-		return mysqli_errno($this->conn_id);
+		return array('code' => mysqli_errno($this->conn_id), 'message' => mysqli_error($this->conn_id));
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/oci8/oci8_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/oci8/oci8_driver.php
index 6da6dc7..97efb46 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/oci8/oci8_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/oci8/oci8_driver.php
@@ -527,39 +527,18 @@
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 	/**
-	 * The error message string
+	 * Error
 	 *
-	 * @return	string
-	 */
-	protected function _error_message()
-	{
-		$error = $this->_oci8_error_data();
-		return $error['message'];
-	}
-
-	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-	/**
-	 * The error message number
-	 *
-	 * @return	string
-	 */
-	protected function _error_number()
-	{
-		$error = $this->_oci8_error_data();
-		return $error['code'];
-	}
-
-	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-	/**
-	 * OCI8-specific method to get errors.
-	 * Used by _error_message() and _error_code().
+	 * Returns an array containing code and message of the last
+	 * database error that has occured.
 	 *
 	 * @return	array
 	 */
-	protected function _oci8_error_data()
+	public function error()
 	{
+		/* oci_error() returns an array that already contains the
+		 * 'code' and 'message' keys, so we can just return it.
+		 */
 		if (is_resource($this->curs_id))
 		{
 			return oci_error($this->curs_id);
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/odbc/odbc_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/odbc/odbc_driver.php
index abb6603..5a93f7c 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/odbc/odbc_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/odbc/odbc_driver.php
@@ -398,27 +398,16 @@
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 	/**
-	 * The error message string
+	 * Error
 	 *
-	 * @access	private
-	 * @return	string
-	 */
-	function _error_message()
-	{
-		return odbc_errormsg($this->conn_id);
-	}
-
-	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-	/**
-	 * The error message number
+	 * Returns an array containing code and message of the last
+	 * database error that has occured.
 	 *
-	 * @access	private
-	 * @return	integer
+	 * @return	array
 	 */
-	function _error_number()
+	public function error()
 	{
-		return odbc_error($this->conn_id);
+		return array('code' => odbc_error($this->conn_id), 'message' => odbc_errormsg($this->conn_id));
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/pdo/pdo_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/pdo/pdo_driver.php
index 90f0fd7..de5e1f0 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/pdo/pdo_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/pdo/pdo_driver.php
@@ -609,29 +609,30 @@
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 	/**
-	 * The error message string
+	 * Error
 	 *
-	 * @access	private
-	 * @return	string
-	 */
-	function _error_message()
-	{
-		$error_array = $this->conn_id->errorInfo();
-
-		return $error_array[2];
-	}
-
-	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-	/**
-	 * The error message number
+	 * Returns an array containing code and message of the last
+	 * database error that has occured.
 	 *
-	 * @access	private
-	 * @return	integer
+	 * @return	array
 	 */
-	function _error_number()
+	public function error()
 	{
-		return $this->conn_id->errorCode();
+		$error = array('code' => '00000', 'message' => '');
+		$pdo_error = $this->conn_id->errorInfo();
+
+		if (empty($pdo_error[0]))
+		{
+			return $error;
+		}
+
+		$error['code'] = isset($pdo_error[1]) ? $pdo_error[0].'/'.$pdo_error[1] : $pdo_error[0];
+		if (isset($pdo_error[2]))
+		{
+			 $error['message'] = $pdo_error[2];
+		}
+
+		return $error;
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/postgre/postgre_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/postgre/postgre_driver.php
index 89541e5..0fcd954 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/postgre/postgre_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/postgre/postgre_driver.php
@@ -443,27 +443,16 @@
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 	/**
-	 * The error message string
+	 * Error
 	 *
-	 * @access	private
-	 * @return	string
-	 */
-	function _error_message()
-	{
-		return pg_last_error($this->conn_id);
-	}
-
-	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-	/**
-	 * The error message number
+	 * Returns an array containing code and message of the last
+	 * database error that has occured.
 	 *
-	 * @access	private
-	 * @return	integer
+	 * @return	array
 	 */
-	function _error_number()
+	public function error()
 	{
-		return '';
+		return array('code' => '', 'message' => pg_last_error($this->conn_id));
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/sqlite/sqlite_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/sqlite/sqlite_driver.php
index 718501b..3e4b373 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/sqlite/sqlite_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/sqlite/sqlite_driver.php
@@ -412,27 +412,18 @@
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 	/**
-	 * The error message string
+	 * Error
 	 *
-	 * @access	private
-	 * @return	string
-	 */
-	function _error_message()
-	{
-		return sqlite_error_string(sqlite_last_error($this->conn_id));
-	}
-
-	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-	/**
-	 * The error message number
+	 * Returns an array containing code and message of the last
+	 * database error that has occured.
 	 *
-	 * @access	private
-	 * @return	integer
+	 * @return	array
 	 */
-	function _error_number()
+	public function error()
 	{
-		return sqlite_last_error($this->conn_id);
+		$error = array('code' => sqlite_last_error($this->conn_id));
+		$error['message'] = sqlite_error_string($error['code']);
+		return $error;
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/sqlsrv/sqlsrv_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/sqlsrv/sqlsrv_driver.php
index 9b90381..03d7c71 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/sqlsrv/sqlsrv_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/sqlsrv/sqlsrv_driver.php
@@ -406,46 +406,39 @@
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 	/**
-	 * The error message string
+	 * Error
 	 *
-	 * @return	string
-	 */
-	protected function _error_message()
-	{
-		$error = sqlsrv_errors();
-		if ( ! is_array($error))
-		{
-			return '';
-		}
-
-		$error = array_shift($error);
-		return isset($error['message']) ? $error['message'] : '';
-	}
-
-	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-	/**
-	 * The error message number
+	 * Returns an array containing code and message of the last
+	 * database error that has occured.
 	 *
-	 * @return	string
+	 * @return	array
 	 */
-	protected function _error_number()
+	public function error()
 	{
-		$error = sqlsrv_errors();
-		if ( ! is_array($error))
+		$error = array('code' => '00000', 'message' => '');
+		$sqlsrv_errors = sqlsrv_errors(SQLSRV_ERR_ERRORS);
+
+		if ( ! is_array($sqlsrv_errors))
 		{
-			return '';
-		}
-		elseif (isset($error['SQLSTATE']))
-		{
-			return isset($error['code']) ? $error['SQLSTATE'].'/'.$error['code'] : $error['SQLSTATE'];
-		}
-		elseif (isset($error['code']))
-		{
-			return $error['code'];
+			return $error;
 		}
 
-		return '';
+		$sqlsrv_error = array_shift($sqlsrv_errors);
+		if (isset($sqlsrv_error['SQLSTATE']))
+		{
+			$error['code'] = isset($sqlsrv_error['code']) ? $sqlsrv_error['SQLSTATE'].'/'.$sqlsrv_error['code'] : $sqlsrv_error['SQLSTATE'];
+		}
+		elseif (isset($sqlsrv_error['code']))
+		{
+			$error['code'] = $sqlsrv_error['code'];
+		}
+
+		if (isset($sqlsrv_error['message']))
+		{
+			$error['message'] = $sqlsrv_error['message'];
+		}
+
+		return $error;
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst b/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
index cece286..cf139bc 100644
--- a/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
+++ b/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@
    -  MySQLi driver now supports persistent connections when running on PHP >= 5.3.
    -  Added dsn if the group connections in the config use PDO or any driver which need DSN.
    -  Improved PDO database support.
-   -  An optional database name parameter was added db_select().
+   -  Added an optional database name parameter to db_select().
+   -  Replaced the _error_message() and _error_number() methods with error(), that returns an array containing the last database error code and message.
 
 -  Libraries
 
@@ -116,13 +117,13 @@
 -  Fixed a bug (#81) - ODBC's list_fields() and field_data() methods skipped the first column due to odbc_field_*() functions' index starting at 1 instead of 0.
 -  Fixed a bug (#129) - ODBC's num_rows() returned -1 in some cases, due to not all subdrivers supporting the odbc_num_rows() function.
 -  Fixed a bug (#153) - E_NOTICE being generated by getimagesize() in the :doc:`File Uploading Library <libraries/file_uploading>`.
--  Fixed a bug (#611) - SQLSRV's _error_message() and _error_number() methods used to issue warnings when there's no actual error.
+-  Fixed a bug (#611) - SQLSRV's error handling methods used to issue warnings when there's no actual error.
 -  Fixed a bug (#1036) - is_write_type() method in the :doc:`Database Library <database/index>` didn't return TRUE for RENAME and OPTIMIZE queries.
 -  Fixed a bug in PDO's _version() method where it used to return the client version as opposed to the server one.
 -  Fixed a bug in PDO's insert_id() method where it could've failed if it's used with Postgre versions prior to 8.1.
 -  Fixed a bug in CUBRID's affected_rows() method where a connection resource was passed to cubrid_affected_rows() instead of a result.
 -  Fixed a bug (#638) - db_set_charset() ignored its arguments and always used the configured charset and collation instead.
--  Fixed a bug (#413) - Oracle's _error_message() and _error_number() methods used to only return connection-related errors.
+-  Fixed a bug (#413) - Oracle's error handling methods used to only return connection-related errors.
 -  Fixed a bug (#804) - Profiler library was trying to handle objects as strings in some cases, resulting in warnings being issued by htmlspecialchars().
 -  Fixed a bug (#1101) - MySQL/MySQLi result method field_data() was implemented as if it was handling a DESCRIBE result instead of the actual result set.
 -  Fixed a bug in Oracle's :doc:`Database Forge Class <database/forge>` method _create_table() where it failed with AUTO_INCREMENT as it's not supported.
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/database/queries.rst b/user_guide_src/source/database/queries.rst
index 971d5d6..15a7361 100644
--- a/user_guide_src/source/database/queries.rst
+++ b/user_guide_src/source/database/queries.rst
@@ -112,3 +112,20 @@
 automatically escaped, producing safer queries. You don't have to
 remember to manually escape data; the engine does it automatically for
 you.
+
+***************
+Handling Errors
+***************
+
+$this->db->error();
+===================
+
+If you need to get the last error that has occured, the error() method
+will return an array containing its code and message. Here's a quick
+example::
+
+	if ( ! $this->db->simple_query('SELECT `example_field` FROM `example_table`'))
+	{
+		$error = $this->db->error(); // Has keys 'code' and 'message'
+	}
+