diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandler.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandler.java
index 9c2097f3ab..e545f978e4 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandler.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandler.java
@@ -30,12 +30,14 @@ import org.springframework.util.FileCopyUtils;
  * Spring's default implementation of the {@link ResponseErrorHandler} interface.
  *
  * <p>This error handler checks for the status code on the {@link ClientHttpResponse}:
- * Any code with series {@link org.springframework.http.HttpStatus.Series#CLIENT_ERROR} or
- * {@link org.springframework.http.HttpStatus.Series#SERVER_ERROR} is considered to be an
- * error. This behavior can be changed by overriding the {@link #hasError(HttpStatus)} method.
+ * Any code with series {@link org.springframework.http.HttpStatus.Series#CLIENT_ERROR}
+ * or {@link org.springframework.http.HttpStatus.Series#SERVER_ERROR} is considered to be
+ * an error; this behavior can be changed by overriding the {@link #hasError(HttpStatus)}
+ * method. Unknown status codes will be ignored by {@link #hasError(ClientHttpResponse)}.
  *
  * @author Arjen Poutsma
  * @author Rossen Stoyanchev
+ * @author Juergen Hoeller
  * @since 3.0
  * @see RestTemplate#setErrorHandler
  */
diff --git a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandlerTests.java b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandlerTests.java
index 40bb6981c6..b34cd1d599 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandlerTests.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/client/DefaultResponseErrorHandlerTests.java
@@ -67,8 +67,8 @@ public class DefaultResponseErrorHandlerTests {
 			handler.handleError(response);
 			fail("expected HttpClientErrorException");
 		}
-		catch (HttpClientErrorException e) {
-			assertSame(headers, e.getResponseHeaders());
+		catch (HttpClientErrorException ex) {
+			assertSame(headers, ex.getResponseHeaders());
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -109,4 +109,16 @@ public class DefaultResponseErrorHandlerTests {
 		handler.handleError(response);
 	}
 
+	@Test  // SPR-16108
+	public void hasErrorForUnknownStatusCode() throws Exception {
+		HttpHeaders headers = new HttpHeaders();
+		headers.setContentType(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN);
+
+		given(response.getRawStatusCode()).willReturn(999);
+		given(response.getStatusText()).willReturn("Custom status code");
+		given(response.getHeaders()).willReturn(headers);
+
+		assertFalse(handler.hasError(response));
+	}
+
 }