diff --git a/message_reader.go b/message_reader.go
index 85c18391..cc1eb87e 100644
--- a/message_reader.go
+++ b/message_reader.go
@@ -3,51 +3,113 @@ package pgx
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
+	"fmt"
 )
 
 // MessageReader is a helper that reads values from a PostgreSQL message.
+// To avoid verbose error handling it internally records errors and no-ops
+// any calls that occur after an error. At the end of a sequence of reads
+// the Err field should be checked to see if any errors occurred.
 type MessageReader struct {
 	buf *bytes.Buffer
+	Err error
 }
 
 func newMessageReader(buf *bytes.Buffer) *MessageReader {
 	return &MessageReader{buf: buf}
 }
 
-func (r *MessageReader) ReadByte() byte {
-	b, err := r.buf.ReadByte()
-	if err != nil {
-		panic("Unable to read byte")
+func (r *MessageReader) ReadByte() (b byte) {
+	if r.Err != nil {
+		return
 	}
-	return b
+
+	b, r.Err = r.buf.ReadByte()
+	return
 }
 
-func (r *MessageReader) ReadInt16() int16 {
-	return int16(binary.BigEndian.Uint16(r.buf.Next(2)))
+func (r *MessageReader) ReadInt16() (n int16) {
+	if r.Err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	size := 2
+	b := r.buf.Next(size)
+	if len(b) != size {
+		r.Err = fmt.Errorf("Unable to read %d bytes, only read %d", size, len(b))
+	}
+
+	return int16(binary.BigEndian.Uint16(b))
 }
 
-func (r *MessageReader) ReadInt32() int32 {
-	return int32(binary.BigEndian.Uint32(r.buf.Next(4)))
+func (r *MessageReader) ReadInt32() (n int32) {
+	if r.Err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	size := 4
+	b := r.buf.Next(size)
+	if len(b) != size {
+		r.Err = fmt.Errorf("Unable to read %d bytes, only read %d", size, len(b))
+	}
+
+	return int32(binary.BigEndian.Uint32(b))
 }
 
-func (r *MessageReader) ReadInt64() int64 {
-	return int64(binary.BigEndian.Uint64(r.buf.Next(8)))
+func (r *MessageReader) ReadInt64() (n int64) {
+	if r.Err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	size := 8
+	b := r.buf.Next(size)
+	if len(b) != size {
+		r.Err = fmt.Errorf("Unable to read %d bytes, only read %d", size, len(b))
+	}
+
+	return int64(binary.BigEndian.Uint64(b))
 }
 
-func (r *MessageReader) ReadOid() Oid {
-	return Oid(binary.BigEndian.Uint32(r.buf.Next(4)))
+func (r *MessageReader) ReadOid() (oid Oid) {
+	if r.Err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	size := 4
+	b := r.buf.Next(size)
+	if len(b) != size {
+		r.Err = fmt.Errorf("Unable to read %d bytes, only read %d", size, len(b))
+	}
+
+	return Oid(binary.BigEndian.Uint32(b))
 }
 
 // ReadString reads a null terminated string
-func (r *MessageReader) ReadString() string {
-	b, err := r.buf.ReadBytes(0)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic("Unable to read string")
+func (r *MessageReader) ReadString() (s string) {
+	if r.Err != nil {
+		return
 	}
+
+	var b []byte
+	b, r.Err = r.buf.ReadBytes(0)
+	if r.Err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
 	return string(b[:len(b)-1])
 }
 
 // ReadByteString reads count bytes and return as string
-func (r *MessageReader) ReadByteString(count int32) string {
-	return string(r.buf.Next(int(count)))
+func (r *MessageReader) ReadByteString(count int32) (s string) {
+	if r.Err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	size := int(count)
+	b := r.buf.Next(size)
+	if len(b) != size {
+		r.Err = fmt.Errorf("Unable to read %d bytes, only read %d", size, len(b))
+	}
+
+	return string(b)
 }