diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 7b80b9cb2..8b3c3e5e0 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -113,6 +113,8 @@ pub enum TantivyError {
     /// The user requested the current operation be cancelled
     #[error("User requested cancel")]
     Cancelled,
+    #[error("Segment Merging failed: {0:#?}")]
+    MergeErrors(Vec<TantivyError>),
 }
 
 impl From<io::Error> for TantivyError {
diff --git a/src/indexer/index_writer.rs b/src/indexer/index_writer.rs
index 943dc6a84..88404c247 100644
--- a/src/indexer/index_writer.rs
+++ b/src/indexer/index_writer.rs
@@ -395,6 +395,10 @@ impl<D: Document> IndexWriter<D> {
             error!("Some merging thread failed {e:?}");
         }
 
+        let merge_errors = self.segment_updater.get_merge_errors();
+        if !merge_errors.is_empty() {
+            return Err(TantivyError::MergeErrors(merge_errors));
+        }
         result
     }
 
diff --git a/src/indexer/segment_updater.rs b/src/indexer/segment_updater.rs
index 0bdb62131..641f172f6 100644
--- a/src/indexer/segment_updater.rs
+++ b/src/indexer/segment_updater.rs
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@ use crate::indexer::{
 };
 use crate::{FutureResult, Opstamp, TantivyError};
 
-const PANIC_CAUGHT: &str = "Panic caught in merge thread";
-
 /// Save the index meta file.
 /// This operation is atomic:
 /// Either
@@ -327,6 +325,7 @@ pub(crate) struct InnerSegmentUpdater {
     active_index_meta: RwLock<Arc<IndexMeta>>,
     pool: ThreadPool,
     merge_thread_pool: ThreadPool,
+    merge_errors: Arc<RwLock<Vec<TantivyError>>>,
 
     index: Index,
     segment_manager: SegmentManager,
@@ -380,6 +379,7 @@ impl SegmentUpdater {
                 active_index_meta: RwLock::new(Arc::new(index_meta)),
                 pool,
                 merge_thread_pool,
+                merge_errors: Default::default(),
                 index,
                 segment_manager,
                 merge_policy: RwLock::new(Arc::new(DefaultMergePolicy::default())),
@@ -594,6 +594,7 @@ impl SegmentUpdater {
             FutureResult::create("Merge operation failed.");
 
         let cancel = self.cancel.box_clone();
+        let merge_errors = self.merge_errors.clone();
         self.merge_thread_pool.spawn(move || {
             // The fact that `merge_operation` is moved here is important.
             // Its lifetime is used to track how many merging thread are currently running,
@@ -618,6 +619,8 @@ impl SegmentUpdater {
                     if cfg!(test) {
                         panic!("{merge_error:?}");
                     }
+
+                    merge_errors.write().unwrap().push(merge_error.clone());
                     let _send_result = merging_future_send.send(Err(merge_error));
                 }
             }
@@ -632,6 +635,10 @@ impl SegmentUpdater {
             .get_mergeable_segments(&merge_segment_ids)
     }
 
+    pub(crate) fn get_merge_errors(&self) -> Vec<TantivyError> {
+        self.merge_errors.read().unwrap().clone()
+    }
+
     fn consider_merge_options(&self) {
         let (mut committed_segments, mut uncommitted_segments) = self.get_mergeable_segments();
         if committed_segments.len() == 1 && committed_segments[0].num_deleted_docs() == 0 {