diff --git a/include/cppkafka/kafka_handle_base.h b/include/cppkafka/kafka_handle_base.h
index 30b679e9..cc22f712 100644
--- a/include/cppkafka/kafka_handle_base.h
+++ b/include/cppkafka/kafka_handle_base.h
@@ -239,6 +239,8 @@ class CPPKAFKA_API KafkaHandleBase {
 
     void set_handle(rd_kafka_t* handle);
     void check_error(rd_kafka_resp_err_t error) const;
+    void check_error(rd_kafka_resp_err_t error,
+                     const rd_kafka_topic_partition_list_t* list_ptr) const;
     rd_kafka_conf_t* get_configuration_handle();
 private:
     static const std::chrono::milliseconds DEFAULT_TIMEOUT;
diff --git a/src/consumer.cpp b/src/consumer.cpp
index 2243400c..3711a2f9 100644
--- a/src/consumer.cpp
+++ b/src/consumer.cpp
@@ -118,11 +118,16 @@ void Consumer::unsubscribe() {
 }
 
 void Consumer::assign(const TopicPartitionList& topic_partitions) {
-    TopicPartitionsListPtr topic_list_handle = convert(topic_partitions);
-    // If the list is empty, then we need to use a null pointer
-    auto handle = topic_partitions.empty() ? nullptr : topic_list_handle.get();
-    rd_kafka_resp_err_t error = rd_kafka_assign(get_handle(), handle);
-    check_error(error);
+    rd_kafka_resp_err_t error;
+    if (topic_partitions.empty()) {
+        error = rd_kafka_assign(get_handle(), nullptr);
+        check_error(error);
+    }
+    else {
+        TopicPartitionsListPtr topic_list_handle = convert(topic_partitions);
+        error = rd_kafka_assign(get_handle(), topic_list_handle.get());
+        check_error(error, topic_list_handle.get());
+    }
 }
 
 void Consumer::unassign() {
@@ -178,7 +183,7 @@ Consumer::get_offsets_committed(const TopicPartitionList& topic_partitions) cons
     TopicPartitionsListPtr topic_list_handle = convert(topic_partitions);
     rd_kafka_resp_err_t error = rd_kafka_committed(get_handle(), topic_list_handle.get(),
                                                    static_cast<int>(get_timeout().count()));
-    check_error(error);
+    check_error(error, topic_list_handle.get());
     return convert(topic_list_handle);
 }
 
@@ -186,7 +191,7 @@ TopicPartitionList
 Consumer::get_offsets_position(const TopicPartitionList& topic_partitions) const {
     TopicPartitionsListPtr topic_list_handle = convert(topic_partitions);
     rd_kafka_resp_err_t error = rd_kafka_position(get_handle(), topic_list_handle.get());
-    check_error(error);
+    check_error(error, topic_list_handle.get());
     return convert(topic_list_handle);
 }
 
@@ -284,10 +289,15 @@ void Consumer::commit(const Message& msg, bool async) {
 
 void Consumer::commit(const TopicPartitionList* topic_partitions, bool async) {
     rd_kafka_resp_err_t error;
-    error = rd_kafka_commit(get_handle(),
-                            !topic_partitions ? nullptr : convert(*topic_partitions).get(),
-                            async ? 1 : 0);
-    check_error(error);
+    if (topic_partitions == nullptr) {
+        error = rd_kafka_commit(get_handle(), nullptr, async ? 1 : 0);
+        check_error(error);
+    }
+    else {
+        TopicPartitionsListPtr topic_list_handle = convert(*topic_partitions);
+        error = rd_kafka_commit(get_handle(), topic_list_handle.get(), async ? 1 : 0);
+        check_error(error, topic_list_handle.get());
+    }
 }
 
 void Consumer::handle_rebalance(rd_kafka_resp_err_t error,
diff --git a/src/kafka_handle_base.cpp b/src/kafka_handle_base.cpp
index 9d470395..c4199f72 100644
--- a/src/kafka_handle_base.cpp
+++ b/src/kafka_handle_base.cpp
@@ -61,14 +61,14 @@ void KafkaHandleBase::pause_partitions(const TopicPartitionList& topic_partition
     TopicPartitionsListPtr topic_list_handle = convert(topic_partitions);
     rd_kafka_resp_err_t error = rd_kafka_pause_partitions(get_handle(), 
                                                           topic_list_handle.get());
-    check_error(error);
+    check_error(error, topic_list_handle.get());
 }
 
 void KafkaHandleBase::resume_partitions(const TopicPartitionList& topic_partitions) {
     TopicPartitionsListPtr topic_list_handle = convert(topic_partitions);
     rd_kafka_resp_err_t error = rd_kafka_resume_partitions(get_handle(), 
                                                            topic_list_handle.get());
-    check_error(error);
+    check_error(error, topic_list_handle.get());
 }
 
 void KafkaHandleBase::set_timeout(milliseconds timeout) {
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ KafkaHandleBase::get_offsets_for_times(const TopicPartitionsTimestampsMap& queri
     const int timeout = static_cast<int>(timeout_ms_.count());
     rd_kafka_resp_err_t result = rd_kafka_offsets_for_times(handle_.get(), topic_list_handle.get(),
                                                             timeout);
-    check_error(result);
+    check_error(result, topic_list_handle.get());
     return convert(topic_list_handle);
 }
 
@@ -220,6 +220,21 @@ void KafkaHandleBase::check_error(rd_kafka_resp_err_t error) const {
     }
 }
 
+void KafkaHandleBase::check_error(rd_kafka_resp_err_t error,
+                                  const rd_kafka_topic_partition_list_t* list_ptr) const {
+    if (error != RD_KAFKA_RESP_ERR_NO_ERROR) {
+        throw HandleException(error);
+    }
+    if (list_ptr) {
+        //check if any partition has errors
+        for (int i = 0; i < list_ptr->cnt; ++i) {
+            if (list_ptr->elems[i].err != RD_KAFKA_RESP_ERR_NO_ERROR) {
+                throw HandleException(error);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 rd_kafka_conf_t* KafkaHandleBase::get_configuration_handle() {
     return config_.get_handle();
 }