diff --git a/doc/haproxy-en.txt b/doc/haproxy-en.txt
index 2a278b0a1..50a480285 100644
--- a/doc/haproxy-en.txt
+++ b/doc/haproxy-en.txt
@@ -2311,8 +2311,13 @@ Some situations can make haproxy return an HTTP error code to the client :
 
 A succint error message taken from the RFC accompanies these return codes.
 But depending on the clients knowledge, it may be better to return custom, user
-friendly, error pages. This is made possible through the use of the 'errorloc'
-command :
+friendly, error pages. This is made possible in two ways, one involving a
+redirection to a known server, and another one consisting in returning a local
+file.
+
+4.6.1) Relocation
+-----------------
+An error relocation is achieved using the 'errorloc' command :
 
     errorloc <HTTP_code> <location>
 
@@ -2344,6 +2349,33 @@ bring two new keywords to replace 'errorloc' : 'errorloc302' and 'errorloc303'.
 They are preffered over errorloc (which still does 302). Consider using
 errorloc303 everytime you know that your clients support HTTP 303 responses..
 
+4.6.2) Local files
+------------------
+Sometimes, it is desirable to change the returned error without resorting to
+redirections. The second method consists in loading local files during startup
+and send them as pure HTTP content upon error. This is what the 'errorfile'
+keyword does.
+
+Warning, there are traps to consider :
+ - The files are loaded while parsing configuration, before doing a chroot().
+   Thus, they are relative to the real filesystem. For this reason, it is
+   recommended to pass an absolute path to those files.
+
+ - The contents of those files is not HTML, but real HTTP protocol with
+   possible HTML body. So the first line and headers are mandatory. Ideally,
+   every line in the HTTP part should end with CR-LF for maximum compatibility.
+
+ - The response is limited to the buffer size (BUSIZE), generally 8 or 16 kB.
+
+ - The response should not include references to the local server, in order to
+   avoid infinite loops on the browser in case of local failure.
+
+Example :
+---------
+        errorfile 400 /etc/haproxy/errorfiles/400badreq.http
+        errorfile 403 /etc/haproxy/errorfiles/403forbid.http
+        errorfile 503 /etc/haproxy/errorfiles/503sorry.http
+
 
 4.7) Modifying default values
 -----------------------------
diff --git a/doc/haproxy-fr.txt b/doc/haproxy-fr.txt
index 7d6ebf143..9845cff80 100644
--- a/doc/haproxy-fr.txt
+++ b/doc/haproxy-fr.txt
@@ -2395,7 +2395,13 @@ Certaines situations conduisent 
 
 Un message d'erreur succint tiré de la RFC accompagne ces codes de retour.
 Cependant, en fonction du type de clientèle, on peut préférer retourner des
-pages personnalisées. Ceci est possible par le biais de la commande "errorloc":
+pages personnalisées. Ceci est possible de deux manières, l'une reposant sur
+une redirection vers un serveur connu, et l'autre consistant à retourner un
+fichier local.
+
+4.6.1) Redirection
+------------------
+Une redirection d'erreur est assurée par le biais de la commande "errorloc" :
 
     errorloc <code_HTTP> <location>
 
@@ -2431,6 +2437,38 @@ Leur usage non ambig
 utilise toujours 302). Dans le doute, préférez l'utilisation de 'errorloc303'
 dès que vous savez que vos clients supportent le code de retour HTTP 303.
 
+4.6.2) Fichiers locaux
+----------------------
+Parfois il est souhaitable de changer l'erreur retournée sans recourir à des
+redirections. La seconde méthode consiste à charger des fichiers locaux lors
+du démarrage et à les envoyer en guise de pur contenu HTTP en cas d'erreur.
+C'est ce que fait le mot clé 'errorfile'.
+
+Attention, il y a des pièges à prendre en compte :
+ - les fichiers sont chargés durant l'analyse de la configuration, avant de
+   faire le chroot(). Donc ils sont relatifs au système de fichiers réel. Pour
+   cette raison, il est recommandé de toujours passer un chemin absolu vers ces
+   fichiers.
+
+ - le contenu de ces fichiers n'est pas du HTML mais vraiment du protocole HTTP
+   avec potentiellement un corps HTML. Donc la première ligne et les en-têtes
+   sont obligatoires. Idéalement, chaque ligne dans la partie HTTP devrait se
+   terminer par un CR-LF pour un maximum de compatibilité.
+
+ - les réponses sont limitées à une taille de buffer (BUFSIZE), généralement 8
+   ou 16 ko.
+
+ - les réponses ne devraient pas inclure de références aux serveurs locaux,
+   afin de ne pas risquer de créer des boucles infinies sur le navigateur dans
+   le cas d'une panne locale.
+
+Exemple :
+---------
+        errorfile 400 /etc/haproxy/errorfiles/400badreq.http
+        errorfile 403 /etc/haproxy/errorfiles/403forbid.http
+        errorfile 503 /etc/haproxy/errorfiles/503sorry.http
+
+
 4.7) Changement des valeurs par défaut
 --------------------------------------
 Dans la version 1.1.22 est apparue la notion de valeurs par défaut, ce qui
diff --git a/examples/errorfiles/400.http b/examples/errorfiles/400.http
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e223e38d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/errorfiles/400.http
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+HTTP/1.0 400 Bad request
+Cache-Control: no-cache
+Connection: close
+Content-Type: text/html
+
+<html><body><h1>400 Bad request</h1>
+Your browser sent an invalid request.
+</body></html>
+
diff --git a/examples/errorfiles/403.http b/examples/errorfiles/403.http
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a67e80755
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/errorfiles/403.http
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+HTTP/1.0 403 Forbidden
+Cache-Control: no-cache
+Connection: close
+Content-Type: text/html
+
+<html><body><h1>403 Forbidden</h1>
+Request forbidden by administrative rules.
+</body></html>
+
diff --git a/examples/errorfiles/408.http b/examples/errorfiles/408.http
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aafb1300f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/errorfiles/408.http
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+HTTP/1.0 408 Request Time-out
+Cache-Control: no-cache
+Connection: close
+Content-Type: text/html
+
+<html><body><h1>408 Request Time-out</h1>
+Your browser didn't send a complete request in time.
+</body></html>
+
diff --git a/examples/errorfiles/500.http b/examples/errorfiles/500.http
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bb121e82a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/errorfiles/500.http
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+HTTP/1.0 500 Server Error
+Cache-Control: no-cache
+Connection: close
+Content-Type: text/html
+
+<html><body><h1>500 Server Error</h1>
+An internal server error occured.
+</body></html>
+
diff --git a/examples/errorfiles/502.http b/examples/errorfiles/502.http
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..94b35d492
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/errorfiles/502.http
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+HTTP/1.0 502 Bad Gateway
+Cache-Control: no-cache
+Connection: close
+Content-Type: text/html
+
+<html><body><h1>502 Bad Gateway</h1>
+The server returned an invalid or incomplete response.
+</body></html>
+
diff --git a/examples/errorfiles/503.http b/examples/errorfiles/503.http
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..48fde5881
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/errorfiles/503.http
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+HTTP/1.0 503 Service Unavailable
+Cache-Control: no-cache
+Connection: close
+Content-Type: text/html
+
+<html><body><h1>503 Service Unavailable</h1>
+No server is available to handle this request.
+</body></html>
+
diff --git a/examples/errorfiles/504.http b/examples/errorfiles/504.http
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f92518414
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/errorfiles/504.http
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+HTTP/1.0 504 Gateway Time-out
+Cache-Control: no-cache
+Connection: close
+Content-Type: text/html
+
+<html><body><h1>504 Gateway Time-out</h1>
+The server didn't respond in time.
+</body></html>
+
diff --git a/examples/errorfiles/README b/examples/errorfiles/README
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a882632f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/errorfiles/README
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+These files are default error files that can be customized
+if necessary. They are complete HTTP responses, so that
+everything is possible, including using redirects or setting
+special headers.
+
+They can be used with the 'errorfile' keyword like this :
+
+    errorfile 503 /etc/haproxy/errors/503.http
+
diff --git a/examples/haproxy.cfg b/examples/haproxy.cfg
index 1add7ff34..1c71d6177 100644
--- a/examples/haproxy.cfg
+++ b/examples/haproxy.cfg
@@ -76,4 +76,5 @@ listen	appli5-backup 0.0.0.0:10005
 	rspidel ^Set-cookie:\ IP=	# do not let this cookie tell our internal IP address
 	
 	errorloc	502	http://192.168.114.58/error502.html
+	errorfile	503	/etc/haproxy/errors/503.http
 
diff --git a/src/cfgparse.c b/src/cfgparse.c
index 69f11e0c5..77bd8277e 100644
--- a/src/cfgparse.c
+++ b/src/cfgparse.c
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@
 #include <pwd.h>
 #include <grp.h>
 #include <errno.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 #include <common/cfgparse.h>
 #include <common/config.h>
@@ -2093,11 +2097,6 @@ int cfg_parse_listen(const char *file, int linenum, char **args)
 		int errnum, errlen;
 		char *err;
 
-		// if (curproxy == &defproxy) {
-		//     Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s' not allowed in 'defaults' section.\n", file, linenum, args[0]);
-		//     return -1;
-		// }
-
 		if (warnifnotcap(curproxy, PR_CAP_FE | PR_CAP_BE, file, linenum, args[0], NULL))
 			return 0;
 
@@ -2131,6 +2130,64 @@ int cfg_parse_listen(const char *file, int linenum, char **args)
 			free(err);
 		}
 	}
+	else if (!strcmp(args[0], "errorfile")) { /* error message from a file */
+		int errnum, errlen, fd;
+		char *err;
+		struct stat stat;
+
+		if (warnifnotcap(curproxy, PR_CAP_FE | PR_CAP_BE, file, linenum, args[0], NULL))
+			return 0;
+
+		if (*(args[2]) == 0) {
+			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : <%s> expects <status_code> and <file> as arguments.\n", file, linenum);
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		fd = open(args[2], O_RDONLY);
+		if ((fd < 0) || (fstat(fd, &stat) < 0)) {
+			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : error opening file <%s> for custom error message <%s>.\n",
+			      file, linenum, args[2], args[1]);
+			if (fd >= 0)
+				close(fd);
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		if (stat.st_size <= BUFSIZE) {
+			errlen = stat.st_size;
+		} else {
+			Warning("parsing [%s:%d] : custom error message file <%s> larger than %d bytes. Truncating.\n",
+				file, linenum, args[2], BUFSIZE);
+			errlen = BUFSIZE;
+		}
+
+		err = malloc(errlen); /* malloc() must succeed during parsing */
+		errnum = read(fd, err, errlen);
+		if (errnum != errlen) {
+			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : error reading file <%s> for custom error message <%s>.\n",
+			      file, linenum, args[2], args[1]);
+			close(fd);
+			free(err);
+			return -1;
+		}
+		close(fd);
+
+		errnum = atol(args[1]);
+		for (rc = 0; rc < HTTP_ERR_SIZE; rc++) {
+			if (http_err_codes[rc] == errnum) {
+				if (curproxy->errmsg[rc].str)
+					free(curproxy->errmsg[rc].str);
+				curproxy->errmsg[rc].str = err;
+				curproxy->errmsg[rc].len = errlen;
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+
+		if (rc >= HTTP_ERR_SIZE) {
+			Warning("parsing [%s:%d] : status code %d not handled, error customization will be ignored.\n",
+				file, linenum, errnum);
+			free(err);
+		}
+	}
 	else {
 		Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : unknown keyword '%s' in '%s' section\n", file, linenum, args[0], "listen");
 		return -1;