diff --git a/source/mijin/io/stream.hpp b/source/mijin/io/stream.hpp
index 4ee5e36..1b7b0b8 100644
--- a/source/mijin/io/stream.hpp
+++ b/source/mijin/io/stream.hpp
@@ -258,6 +258,30 @@ StreamError Stream::readAsString(std::basic_string<TChar>& outString)
     return StreamError::SUCCESS;
 }
 
+
+inline const char* errorName(StreamError error) noexcept
+{
+    switch (error)
+    {
+        case StreamError::SUCCESS:
+            return "success";
+        case StreamError::IO_ERROR:
+            return "IO error";
+        case StreamError::NOT_SUPPORTED:
+            return "not supported";
+        case StreamError::UNKNOWN_ERROR:
+            return "unknown error";
+    }
+    return "<invalid error>";
+}
+
+inline void throwOnError(mijin::StreamError error)
+{
+    if (error == mijin::StreamError::SUCCESS) {
+        return;
+    }
+    throw std::runtime_error(errorName(error));
+}
 } // namespace mijin
 
 #endif // !defined(MIJIN_IO_STREAM_HPP_INCLUDED)