diff --git a/src/Buffer.php b/src/Buffer.php
index 9c6d60f..cce322d 100644
--- a/src/Buffer.php
+++ b/src/Buffer.php
@@ -14,13 +14,15 @@ class Buffer extends EventEmitter implements WritableStreamInterface
     private $writable = true;
     private $loop;
     private $data = '';
-    private $lastError;
 
     public function __construct($stream, LoopInterface $loop)
     {
+        if (!is_resource($stream) || get_resource_type($stream) !== "stream") {
+            throw new \InvalidArgumentException('First parameter must be a valid stream resource');
+        }
+
         $this->stream = $stream;
         $this->loop = $loop;
-        $this->lastErrorFlush();
     }
 
     public function isWritable()
@@ -73,15 +75,15 @@ public function close()
 
     public function handleWrite()
     {
-        if (!is_resource($this->stream)) {
-            $this->emit('error', array(new \RuntimeException('Tried to write to invalid stream.'), $this));
-
-            return;
-        }
-
-        $this->lastErrorFlush();
-
-        set_error_handler(array($this, 'errorHandler'));
+        $error = null;
+        set_error_handler(function ($errno, $errstr, $errfile, $errline) use (&$error) {
+            $error = array(
+                'message' => $errstr,
+                'number' => $errno,
+                'file' => $errfile,
+                'line' => $errline
+            );
+        });
 
         $sent = fwrite($this->stream, $this->data);
 
@@ -94,23 +96,21 @@ public function handleWrite()
         // to keep the stream open for further tries to write.
         // Should this turn out to be a permanent error later, it will eventually
         // send *nothing* and we can detect this.
-        if ($sent === 0 && $this->lastError['number'] > 0) {
-            $this->emit('error', array(
-                new \ErrorException(
-                    $this->lastError['message'],
+        if ($sent === 0 || $sent === false) {
+            if ($error === null) {
+                $error = new \RuntimeException('Send failed');
+            } else {
+                $error = new \ErrorException(
+                    $error['message'],
                     0,
-                    $this->lastError['number'],
-                    $this->lastError['file'],
-                    $this->lastError['line']
-                ),
-                $this
-            ));
+                    $error['number'],
+                    $error['file'],
+                    $error['line']
+                );
+            }
 
-            return;
-        }
+            $this->emit('error', array(new \RuntimeException('Unable to write to stream: ' . $error->getMessage(), 0, $error), $this));
 
-        if ($sent === 0) {
-            $this->emit('error', array(new \RuntimeException('Send failed'), $this));
             return;
         }
 
@@ -128,21 +128,4 @@ public function handleWrite()
             $this->emit('full-drain', array($this));
         }
     }
-
-    private function errorHandler($errno, $errstr, $errfile, $errline)
-    {
-        $this->lastError['number']  = $errno;
-        $this->lastError['message'] = $errstr;
-        $this->lastError['file']    = $errfile;
-        $this->lastError['line']    = $errline;
-    }
-
-    private function lastErrorFlush() {
-        $this->lastError = array(
-            'number'  => 0,
-            'message' => '',
-            'file'    => '',
-            'line'    => 0,
-        );
-    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/BufferTest.php b/tests/BufferTest.php
index e235211..f3eae3a 100644
--- a/tests/BufferTest.php
+++ b/tests/BufferTest.php
@@ -18,6 +18,18 @@ public function testConstructor()
         $buffer->on('error', $this->expectCallableNever());
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @covers React\Stream\Buffer::__construct
+     * @expectedException InvalidArgumentException
+     */
+    public function testConstructorThrowsIfNotAValidStreamResource()
+    {
+        $stream = null;
+        $loop = $this->createLoopMock();
+
+        new Buffer($stream, $loop);
+    }
+
     /**
      * @covers React\Stream\Buffer::write
      * @covers React\Stream\Buffer::handleWrite
@@ -249,11 +261,10 @@ public function testWritingToClosedBufferShouldNotWriteToStream()
 
     /**
      * @covers React\Stream\Buffer::handleWrite
-     * @covers React\Stream\Buffer::errorHandler
      */
-    public function testError()
+    public function testErrorWhenStreamResourceIsInvalid()
     {
-        $stream = null;
+        $stream = fopen('php://temp', 'r+');
         $loop = $this->createWriteableLoopMock();
 
         $error = null;
@@ -263,9 +274,16 @@ public function testError()
             $error = $message;
         });
 
+        // invalidate stream resource
+        fclose($stream);
+
         $buffer->write('Attempting to write to bad stream');
+
         $this->assertInstanceOf('Exception', $error);
-        $this->assertSame('Tried to write to invalid stream.', $error->getMessage());
+
+        // the error messages differ between PHP versions, let's just check substrings
+        $this->assertContains('Unable to write to stream: ', $error->getMessage());
+        $this->assertContains(' not a valid stream resource', $error->getMessage(), '', true);
     }
 
     public function testWritingToClosedStream()
@@ -290,7 +308,7 @@ public function testWritingToClosedStream()
         $buffer->write('bar');
 
         $this->assertInstanceOf('Exception', $error);
-        $this->assertSame('fwrite(): send of 3 bytes failed with errno=32 Broken pipe', $error->getMessage());
+        $this->assertSame('Unable to write to stream: fwrite(): send of 3 bytes failed with errno=32 Broken pipe', $error->getMessage());
     }
 
     private function createWriteableLoopMock()