diff --git a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/web/BasicErrorController.java b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/web/BasicErrorController.java
index ab7a812106..27f843167e 100644
--- a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/web/BasicErrorController.java
+++ b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/web/BasicErrorController.java
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ import org.springframework.web.servlet.ModelAndView;
  * @see ErrorAttributes
  */
 @Controller
+@RequestMapping("${error.path:/error}")
 public class BasicErrorController implements ErrorController {
 
 	@Value("${error.path:/error}")
@@ -60,15 +61,15 @@ public class BasicErrorController implements ErrorController {
 		return this.errorPath;
 	}
 
-	@RequestMapping(value = "${error.path:/error}", produces = "text/html")
+	@RequestMapping(produces = "text/html")
 	public ModelAndView errorHtml(HttpServletRequest request) {
 		return new ModelAndView("error", getErrorAttributes(request, false));
 	}
 
-	@RequestMapping(value = "${error.path:/error}")
+	@RequestMapping
 	@ResponseBody
 	public ResponseEntity<Map<String, Object>> error(HttpServletRequest request) {
-		Map<String, Object> body = getErrorAttributes(request, getTraceParameter(request));
+		Map<String, Object> body = getErrorAttributes(request);
 		HttpStatus status = getStatus(request);
 		return new ResponseEntity<Map<String, Object>>(body, status);
 	}
@@ -81,14 +82,18 @@ public class BasicErrorController implements ErrorController {
 		return !"false".equals(parameter.toLowerCase());
 	}
 
-	private Map<String, Object> getErrorAttributes(HttpServletRequest request,
+	protected Map<String, Object> getErrorAttributes(HttpServletRequest request) {
+		return getErrorAttributes(request, getTraceParameter(request));
+	}
+
+	protected Map<String, Object> getErrorAttributes(HttpServletRequest request,
 			boolean includeStackTrace) {
 		RequestAttributes requestAttributes = new ServletRequestAttributes(request);
 		return this.errorAttributes.getErrorAttributes(requestAttributes,
 				includeStackTrace);
 	}
 
-	private HttpStatus getStatus(HttpServletRequest request) {
+	protected HttpStatus getStatus(HttpServletRequest request) {
 		Integer statusCode = (Integer) request
 				.getAttribute("javax.servlet.error.status_code");
 		if (statusCode != null) {
diff --git a/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/spring-boot-features.adoc b/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/spring-boot-features.adoc
index 504396c5a1..d1dadfa0ef 100644
--- a/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/spring-boot-features.adoc
+++ b/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/spring-boot-features.adoc
@@ -1401,6 +1401,12 @@ the same data in HTML format (to customize it just add a `View` that resolves to
 `ErrorController` and register a bean definition of that type, or simply add a bean of
 type `ErrorAttributes` to use the existing mechanism but replace the contents.
 
+TIP: The `BasicErrorController` can be used as a base class for a custom `ErrorController`.
+This is particularly useful if you want to add a handler for a new content type (the default
+is to handle `text/html` specifically and provide a fallback for everything else). To do that
+just extend `BasicErrorController` and add a public method with a `@RequestMapping` that
+has a `produces` attribute, and create a bean of your new type.
+
 If you want more specific error pages for some conditions, the embedded servlet containers
 support a uniform Java DSL for customizing the error handling. Assuming that you have a
 mapping for `/400`: