diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/DefaultAsyncServerResponse.java b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/DefaultAsyncServerResponse.java
index 0fd28344543..e720174b37e 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/DefaultAsyncServerResponse.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/DefaultAsyncServerResponse.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2020 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2021 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ final class DefaultAsyncServerResponse extends ErrorHandlingServerResponse imple
 	public ModelAndView writeTo(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response, Context context)
 			throws ServletException, IOException {
 
-		writeAsync(request, response, createDeferredResult());
+		writeAsync(request, response, createDeferredResult(request));
 		return null;
 	}
 
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ final class DefaultAsyncServerResponse extends ErrorHandlingServerResponse imple
 
 	}
 
-	private DeferredResult<ServerResponse> createDeferredResult() {
+	private DeferredResult<ServerResponse> createDeferredResult(HttpServletRequest request) {
 		DeferredResult<ServerResponse> result;
 		if (this.timeout != null) {
 			result = new DeferredResult<>(this.timeout.toMillis());
@@ -153,7 +153,13 @@ final class DefaultAsyncServerResponse extends ErrorHandlingServerResponse imple
 				if (ex instanceof CompletionException && ex.getCause() != null) {
 					ex = ex.getCause();
 				}
-				result.setErrorResult(ex);
+				ServerResponse errorResponse = errorResponse(ex, request);
+				if (errorResponse != null) {
+					result.setResult(errorResponse);
+				}
+				else {
+					result.setErrorResult(ex);
+				}
 			}
 			else {
 				result.setResult(value);
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/DefaultEntityResponseBuilder.java b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/DefaultEntityResponseBuilder.java
index 44b721e72a2..fedfe2d4a40 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/DefaultEntityResponseBuilder.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/DefaultEntityResponseBuilder.java
@@ -361,21 +361,27 @@ final class DefaultEntityResponseBuilder<T> implements EntityResponse.Builder<T>
 		protected ModelAndView writeToInternal(HttpServletRequest servletRequest, HttpServletResponse servletResponse,
 				Context context) throws ServletException, IOException {
 
-			DeferredResult<?> deferredResult = createDeferredResult(servletRequest, servletResponse, context);
+			DeferredResult<ServerResponse> deferredResult = createDeferredResult(servletRequest, servletResponse, context);
 			DefaultAsyncServerResponse.writeAsync(servletRequest, servletResponse, deferredResult);
 			return null;
 		}
 
-		private DeferredResult<?> createDeferredResult(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response,
+		private DeferredResult<ServerResponse> createDeferredResult(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response,
 				Context context) {
 
-			DeferredResult<?> result = new DeferredResult<>();
+			DeferredResult<ServerResponse> result = new DeferredResult<>();
 			entity().handle((value, ex) -> {
 				if (ex != null) {
 					if (ex instanceof CompletionException && ex.getCause() != null) {
 						ex = ex.getCause();
 					}
-					result.setErrorResult(ex);
+					ServerResponse errorResponse = errorResponse(ex, request);
+					if (errorResponse != null) {
+						result.setResult(errorResponse);
+					}
+					else {
+						result.setErrorResult(ex);
+					}
 				}
 				else {
 					try {
@@ -468,7 +474,12 @@ final class DefaultEntityResponseBuilder<T> implements EntityResponse.Builder<T>
 
 			@Override
 			public void onError(Throwable t) {
-				this.deferredResult.setErrorResult(t);
+				try {
+					handleError(t, this.servletRequest, this.servletResponse, this.context);
+				}
+				catch (ServletException | IOException handlingThrowable) {
+					this.deferredResult.setErrorResult(handlingThrowable);
+				}
 			}
 
 			@Override
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/ErrorHandlingServerResponse.java b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/ErrorHandlingServerResponse.java
index 09785c5cf92..9ae67ec1023 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/ErrorHandlingServerResponse.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/ErrorHandlingServerResponse.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2020 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2021 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ import org.springframework.web.servlet.ModelAndView;
 
 /**
  * Base class for {@link ServerResponse} implementations with error handling.
- *
  * @author Arjen Poutsma
  * @since 5.3
  */
@@ -55,21 +54,36 @@ abstract class ErrorHandlingServerResponse implements ServerResponse {
 	}
 
 	@Nullable
-	protected ModelAndView handleError(Throwable t, HttpServletRequest servletRequest,
+	protected final ModelAndView handleError(Throwable t, HttpServletRequest servletRequest,
 			HttpServletResponse servletResponse, Context context) throws ServletException, IOException {
 
+		ServerResponse serverResponse = errorResponse(t, servletRequest);
+		if (serverResponse != null) {
+			return serverResponse.writeTo(servletRequest, servletResponse, context);
+		}
+		else if (t instanceof ServletException) {
+			throw (ServletException) t;
+		}
+		else if (t instanceof IOException) {
+			throw (IOException) t;
+		}
+		else {
+			throw new ServletException(t);
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Nullable
+	protected final ServerResponse errorResponse(Throwable t, HttpServletRequest servletRequest) {
 		for (ErrorHandler<?> errorHandler : this.errorHandlers) {
 			if (errorHandler.test(t)) {
 				ServerRequest serverRequest = (ServerRequest)
 						servletRequest.getAttribute(RouterFunctions.REQUEST_ATTRIBUTE);
-				ServerResponse serverResponse = errorHandler.handle(t, serverRequest);
-				return serverResponse.writeTo(servletRequest, servletResponse, context);
+				return errorHandler.handle(t, serverRequest);
 			}
 		}
-		throw new ServletException(t);
+		return null;
 	}
 
-
 	private static class ErrorHandler<T extends ServerResponse> {
 
 		private final Predicate<Throwable> predicate;