diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index b62a50a..9291252 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,12 +1,25 @@
 language: go
 
+sudo: false
+
+os:
+  - linux
+  - osx 
+
 go:
-  - 1.3
-  - 1.4
-  - 1.5
-  - 1.6
-  - tip
+  - 1.5.x
+  - 1.6.x
+  - 1.7.x
+  - 1.8.x
+  - master
 
 script: 
+ - go vet ./...
  - go test -v -cpu=2 ./...
  - go test -cpu=2 -short -race ./...
+ - diff <(gofmt -d .) <("")
+
+matrix:
+  allow_failures:
+    - go: 'master'
+  fast_finish: true
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e90149f..e0f7c38 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ This package will allow you to add readhead to any reader. This means a separate
 
 This is helpful for splitting an input stream into concurrent processing, and also helps smooth out **bursts** of input or output.
 
-This should be fully transparent, except that once an error has been returned from the Reader, it will not recover.
+This should be fully transparent, except that once an error has been returned from the Reader, it will not recover. A panic will be caught and returned as an error.
 
 The readahead object also fulfills the [`io.WriterTo`](https://golang.org/pkg/io/#WriterTo) interface, which is likely to speed up `io.Copy` and other code that use the interface.
 
diff --git a/reader.go b/reader.go
index 5436eb2..1ad8801 100644
--- a/reader.go
+++ b/reader.go
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ func (a *reader) Read(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
 
 	// Copy what we can
 	n = copy(p, a.cur.buffer())
-	a.cur.increment(n)
+	a.cur.inc(n)
 
 	// If at end of buffer, return any error, if present
 	if a.cur.isEmpty() {
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ func (a *reader) WriteTo(w io.Writer) (n int64, err error) {
 			return n, err
 		}
 		n2, err := w.Write(a.cur.buffer())
-		a.cur.increment(n2)
+		a.cur.inc(n2)
 		n += int64(n2)
 		if err != nil {
 			return n, err
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ func (a *reader) Close() (err error) {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// Internal buffer
+// Internal buffer representing a single read.
 // If an error is present, it must be returned
 // once all buffer content has been served.
 type buffer struct {
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ func newBuffer(size int) *buffer {
 }
 
 // isEmpty returns true is offset is at end of
-// buffer, or
+// buffer, or if the buffer is nil
 func (b *buffer) isEmpty() bool {
 	if b == nil {
 		return true
@@ -209,7 +209,13 @@ func (b *buffer) isEmpty() bool {
 // read into start of the buffer from the supplied reader,
 // resets the offset and updates the size of the buffer.
 // Any error encountered during the read is returned.
-func (b *buffer) read(rd io.Reader) error {
+func (b *buffer) read(rd io.Reader) (err error) {
+	defer func() {
+		if r := recover(); r != nil {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("panic reading: %v", r)
+			b.err = err
+		}
+	}()
 	var n int
 	n, b.err = rd.Read(b.buf[0:b.size])
 	b.buf = b.buf[0:n]
@@ -222,7 +228,7 @@ func (b *buffer) buffer() []byte {
 	return b.buf[b.offset:]
 }
 
-// increment the offset
-func (b *buffer) increment(n int) {
+// inc will increment the read offset
+func (b *buffer) inc(n int) {
 	b.offset += n
 }
diff --git a/reader_test.go b/reader_test.go
index 666a3dd..ee95515 100644
--- a/reader_test.go
+++ b/reader_test.go
@@ -3,14 +3,15 @@ package readahead_test
 import (
 	"bufio"
 	"bytes"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
 	"testing"
 	"testing/iotest"
 
-	"fmt"
-
 	"github.com/klauspost/readahead"
 )
 
@@ -172,6 +173,86 @@ func reads(buf io.Reader, m int) string {
 	return string(b[0:nb])
 }
 
+type dummyReader struct {
+	readFN func([]byte) (int, error)
+}
+
+func (d dummyReader) Read(dst []byte) (int, error) {
+	return d.readFN(dst)
+}
+
+func TestReaderPanic(t *testing.T) {
+	r := dummyReader{readFN: func(dst []byte) (int, error) {
+		panic("some underlying panic")
+	}}
+	reader := readahead.NewReader(r)
+	defer reader.Close()
+
+	// Copy the content to dst
+	var dst = &bytes.Buffer{}
+	_, err := io.Copy(dst, reader)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Want error, got nil")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestReaderLatePanic(t *testing.T) {
+	var n int
+	var mu sync.Mutex
+	r := dummyReader{readFN: func(dst []byte) (int, error) {
+		mu.Lock()
+		defer mu.Unlock()
+		if n >= 10 {
+			panic("some underlying panic")
+		}
+		n++
+		return len(dst), nil
+	}}
+	reader := readahead.NewReader(r)
+	defer reader.Close()
+
+	// Copy the content to dst
+	var dst = &bytes.Buffer{}
+	_, err := io.Copy(dst, reader)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Want error, got nil")
+	}
+	mu.Lock()
+	if n < 10 {
+		t.Fatalf("Want at least 10 calls, got %v", n)
+	}
+	mu.Unlock()
+}
+
+func TestReaderLateError(t *testing.T) {
+	var n int
+	var mu sync.Mutex
+	theErr := errors.New("some error")
+	r := dummyReader{readFN: func(dst []byte) (int, error) {
+		mu.Lock()
+		defer mu.Unlock()
+		if n >= 10 {
+			return 0, theErr
+		}
+		n++
+		return len(dst), nil
+	}}
+	reader := readahead.NewReader(r)
+	defer reader.Close()
+
+	// Copy the content to dst
+	var dst = &bytes.Buffer{}
+	_, err := io.Copy(dst, reader)
+	if err != theErr {
+		t.Fatalf("Want %#v, got %#v", theErr, err)
+	}
+	mu.Lock()
+	if n < 10 {
+		t.Fatalf("Want at least 10 calls, got %v", n)
+	}
+	mu.Unlock()
+}
+
 type bufReader struct {
 	name string
 	fn   func(io.Reader) string