diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index dc62902e..e7f28063 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -77,5 +77,10 @@
       <artifactId>jackson-mapper-asl</artifactId>
       <version>1.9.12</version>
     </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+    	<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+    	<artifactId>spring-tx</artifactId>
+    	<version>3.2.1.RELEASE</version>
+    </dependency>
   </dependencies>
 </project>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/couchbase/spring/core/CouchbaseExceptionTranslator.java b/src/main/java/com/couchbase/spring/core/CouchbaseExceptionTranslator.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..271a9a9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/couchbase/spring/core/CouchbaseExceptionTranslator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2009-2012 Couchbase, Inc.
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
+ * FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALING
+ * IN THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+
+package com.couchbase.spring.core;
+
+import org.springframework.dao.DataAccessException;
+import org.springframework.dao.DataAccessResourceFailureException;
+import org.springframework.dao.DataIntegrityViolationException;
+import org.springframework.dao.support.PersistenceExceptionTranslator;
+
+import com.couchbase.client.ObservedException;
+import com.couchbase.client.ObservedModifiedException;
+import com.couchbase.client.ObservedTimeoutException;
+import com.couchbase.client.vbucket.ConnectionException;
+
+/**
+ * Simple {@link PersistenceExceptionTranslator} for Couchbase.
+ * 
+ * Convert the given runtime exception to an appropriate exception from the 
+ * {@code org.springframework.dao} hierarchy. Return {@literal null} if no translation 
+ * is appropriate: any other exception may have resulted from user code, and should not 
+ * be translated.
+ */
+public class CouchbaseExceptionTranslator implements PersistenceExceptionTranslator {
+
+	@Override
+	public DataAccessException translateExceptionIfPossible(RuntimeException ex) {
+		if(ex instanceof ConnectionException) {
+			return new DataAccessResourceFailureException(ex.getMessage(), ex);
+		}
+		
+		if(ex instanceof ObservedException ||
+			 ex instanceof ObservedTimeoutException ||
+			 ex instanceof ObservedModifiedException) {
+			return new DataIntegrityViolationException(ex.getMessage(), ex);
+		}
+		
+		return null;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/couchbase/spring/core/CouchbaseTemplate.java b/src/main/java/com/couchbase/spring/core/CouchbaseTemplate.java
index 5c342ba0..f0628fd1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/couchbase/spring/core/CouchbaseTemplate.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/couchbase/spring/core/CouchbaseTemplate.java
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ public class CouchbaseTemplate implements CouchbaseOperations {
   protected final MappingContext<? extends CouchbasePersistentEntity<?>,
       CouchbasePersistentProperty> mappingContext;
   private static final Collection<String> ITERABLE_CLASSES;
+  private final CouchbaseExceptionTranslator exceptionTranslator = 
+  		new CouchbaseExceptionTranslator();
   
 	static {
 		Set<String> iterableClasses = new HashSet<String>();
@@ -138,6 +140,11 @@ public class CouchbaseTemplate implements CouchbaseOperations {
 			}
 		}
 	}
+	
+	private RuntimeException potentiallyConvertRuntimeException(RuntimeException ex) {
+		RuntimeException resolved = this.exceptionTranslator.translateExceptionIfPossible(ex);
+		return resolved == null ? ex : resolved;
+	}
 
   
 }