diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/AlfrescoFacesServlet.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/AlfrescoFacesServlet.java
deleted file mode 100644
index a0cfba6b3c..0000000000
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/app/servlet/AlfrescoFacesServlet.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,59 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright (C) 2005 Alfresco, Inc.
- *
- * Licensed under the Mozilla Public License version 1.1 
- * with a permitted attribution clause. You may obtain a
- * copy of the License at
- *
- *   http://www.alfresco.org/legal/license.txt
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND,
- * either express or implied. See the License for the specific
- * language governing permissions and limitations under the
- * License.
- */
-package org.alfresco.web.app.servlet;
-
-import java.io.IOException;
-
-import javax.faces.webapp.FacesServlet;
-import javax.servlet.ServletException;
-import javax.servlet.ServletRequest;
-import javax.servlet.ServletResponse;
-import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
-import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
-
-import org.alfresco.web.app.Application;
-import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
-import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
-
-/**
- * Wrapper around standard faces servlet to provide error handling
- * 
- * @author gavinc
- */
-public class AlfrescoFacesServlet extends FacesServlet
-{
-   private static Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(AlfrescoFacesServlet.class);
-   
-   /**
-    * @see javax.servlet.Servlet#service(javax.servlet.ServletRequest, javax.servlet.ServletResponse)
-    */
-   public void service(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response) 
-      throws IOException, ServletException
-   {
-      try
-      {
-         super.service(request, response);
-      }
-      catch (Throwable error)
-      {
-         String returnPage = ((HttpServletRequest)request).getRequestURI();
-         
-         Application.handleServletError(getServletConfig().getServletContext(), (HttpServletRequest)request,
-               (HttpServletResponse)response, error, logger, returnPage);
-      }
-   }
-}
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/bean/ErrorBean.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/bean/ErrorBean.java
index 6a387f2c36..8cf9b29244 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/bean/ErrorBean.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/bean/ErrorBean.java
@@ -58,11 +58,22 @@ public class ErrorBean
    }
 
    /**
-    * @param lastError The lastError to set.
+    * @param error The lastError to set.
     */
-   public void setLastError(Throwable lastError)
+   public void setLastError(Throwable error)
    {
-      this.lastError = lastError;
+      // servlet exceptions hide the actual error within the rootCause
+      // variable, set the base error to that and throw away the 
+      // ServletException wrapper
+      if (error instanceof ServletException && 
+            ((ServletException)error).getRootCause() != null)
+      {
+         this.lastError = ((ServletException)error).getRootCause();
+      }
+      else
+      {
+         this.lastError = error;
+      }
    }
    
    /**
@@ -74,29 +85,17 @@ public class ErrorBean
       
       if (this.lastError != null)
       {
-         StringBuilder builder = null;
-         Throwable cause = null;
-         if (this.lastError instanceof ServletException && 
-             ((ServletException)this.lastError).getRootCause() != null)
-         {
-            // servlet exception puts the actual error in root cause!!
-            Throwable actualError = ((ServletException)this.lastError).getRootCause();
-            builder = new StringBuilder(actualError.toString());
-            cause = actualError.getCause();
-         }
-         else
-         {
-            builder = new StringBuilder(this.lastError.toString());
-            cause = this.lastError.getCause(); 
-         }
+         StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder(this.lastError.toString());;
+         Throwable cause = this.lastError.getCause();
          
+         // build up stack trace of all causes
          while (cause != null)
          {
-            builder.append("<br/><br/>caused by:<br/>");
+            builder.append("\ncaused by:\n");
             builder.append(cause.toString());
             
             if (cause instanceof ServletException && 
-             ((ServletException)cause).getRootCause() != null)
+                  ((ServletException)cause).getRootCause() != null)
             {
                cause = ((ServletException)cause).getRootCause();
             }
@@ -107,6 +106,11 @@ public class ErrorBean
          }
          
          message = builder.toString();
+         
+         // format the message for HTML display
+         message = message.replaceAll("<", "&lt;");
+         message = message.replaceAll(">", "&gt;");
+         message = message.replaceAll("\n", "<br/>");
       }
       
       return message;
@@ -119,18 +123,14 @@ public class ErrorBean
    {
       StringWriter stringWriter = new StringWriter();
       PrintWriter writer = new PrintWriter(stringWriter);
+      this.lastError.printStackTrace(writer);
       
-      if (this.lastError instanceof ServletException && 
-          ((ServletException)this.lastError).getRootCause() != null)
-      {
-         Throwable actualError = ((ServletException)this.lastError).getRootCause();
-         actualError.printStackTrace(writer);
-      }
-      else
-      {
-         this.lastError.printStackTrace(writer);
-      }
+      // format the message for HTML display
+      String trace = stringWriter.toString();
+      trace = trace.replaceAll("<", "&lt;");
+      trace = trace.replaceAll(">", "&gt;");
+      trace = trace.replaceAll("\n", "<br/>");
       
-      return stringWriter.toString().replaceAll("\r\n", "<br/>");
+      return trace;
    }
 }
diff --git a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/ui/repo/tag/SystemErrorTag.java b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/ui/repo/tag/SystemErrorTag.java
index 0efbc92ed8..b46d25f65f 100644
--- a/source/java/org/alfresco/web/ui/repo/tag/SystemErrorTag.java
+++ b/source/java/org/alfresco/web/ui/repo/tag/SystemErrorTag.java
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ import org.alfresco.web.bean.ErrorBean;
  */
 public class SystemErrorTag extends TagSupport
 {
+   private static final long serialVersionUID = -7336055169875448199L;
+   
    private static final String MSG_RETURN_TO_APP = "return_to_application";
    private static final String MSG_HIDE_DETAILS  = "hide_details";
    private static final String MSG_SHOW_DETAILS  = "show_details";
@@ -126,6 +128,21 @@ public class SystemErrorTag extends TagSupport
          errorMessage = errorBean.getLastErrorMessage();
          errorDetails = errorBean.getStackTrace();
       }
+      else
+      {
+         // if we reach here the error was caught by the declaration in web.xml so
+         // pull all the information from the request and create the error bean
+         Throwable error = (Throwable)pageContext.getRequest().getAttribute("javax.servlet.error.exception");
+         String uri = (String)pageContext.getRequest().getAttribute("javax.servlet.error.request_uri");
+         
+         // create and store the ErrorBean
+         errorBean = new ErrorBean();
+         pageContext.getSession().setAttribute(ErrorBean.ERROR_BEAN_NAME, errorBean);
+         errorBean.setLastError(error);
+         errorBean.setReturnPage(uri);
+         errorMessage = errorBean.getLastErrorMessage();
+         errorDetails = errorBean.getStackTrace();
+      }
       
       try
       {
@@ -254,6 +271,11 @@ public class SystemErrorTag extends TagSupport
       {
          throw new JspException(ioe);
       }
+      finally
+      {
+         // clear out the error bean otherwise the next error could be hidden
+         pageContext.getSession().removeAttribute(ErrorBean.ERROR_BEAN_NAME);
+      }
       
       return SKIP_BODY;
    }
diff --git a/source/web/WEB-INF/web.xml b/source/web/WEB-INF/web.xml
index 79d3a24c2a..33800b0aa1 100644
--- a/source/web/WEB-INF/web.xml
+++ b/source/web/WEB-INF/web.xml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
       <param-name>org.apache.myfaces.DETECT_JAVASCRIPT</param-name>
       <param-value>false</param-value>
       <description>This is an EXPERIMENTAL feature, so leave it off for now!</description>
-    </context-param>
+   </context-param>
 
     <!-- TODO: Change this to false for production -->
     <context-param>
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@
    <!-- Faces Servlet -->
    <servlet>
       <servlet-name>Faces Servlet</servlet-name>
-      <servlet-class>org.alfresco.web.app.servlet.AlfrescoFacesServlet</servlet-class>
+      <servlet-class>javax.faces.webapp.FacesServlet</servlet-class>
       <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
    </servlet>
    
@@ -359,9 +359,9 @@
       <welcome-file>index.jsp</welcome-file>
    </welcome-file-list>
 
-   <taglib>
-       <taglib-uri>http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core</taglib-uri>
-       <taglib-location>/WEB-INF/c.tld</taglib-location>
-     </taglib>
+   <error-page>
+      <error-code>500</error-code>
+      <location>/jsp/error.jsp</location>
+   </error-page>
      
 </web-app>