diff --git a/tsweb/log.go b/tsweb/log.go
index 619537118..788e46720 100644
--- a/tsweb/log.go
+++ b/tsweb/log.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ package tsweb
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
-	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -42,20 +41,3 @@ func (m Msg) String() string {
 	json.NewEncoder(&buf).Encode(m)
 	return strings.TrimRight(buf.String(), "\n")
 }
-
-// HTTPError is an error with embedded HTTP response information. When
-// received by an ErrHandler, the Code and Msg are sent to the client,
-// while Err is logged on the server.
-type HTTPError struct {
-	Code int
-	Msg  string // sent to the end-user
-	Err  error
-}
-
-// Error implements the error interface.
-func (e HTTPError) Error() string { return fmt.Sprintf("httperror{%d, %q, %v}", e.Code, e.Msg, e.Err) }
-
-// Error returns an HTTPError containing the given information.
-func Error(code int, msg string, err error) HTTPError {
-	return HTTPError{Code: code, Msg: msg, Err: err}
-}
diff --git a/tsweb/tsweb.go b/tsweb/tsweb.go
index e7409f34f..2f8bb3a5d 100644
--- a/tsweb/tsweb.go
+++ b/tsweb/tsweb.go
@@ -140,9 +140,21 @@ func stripPort(hostport string) string {
 }
 
 // Handler is like net/http.Handler, but the handler can return an
-// error.
+// error instead of writing to its ResponseWriter.
+//
+// ServeHTTPErr should behave like http.Handler.ServeHTTP, except that
+// it can choose to return an error instead of writing to its
+// http.ResponseWriter.
+//
+// Callers of Handler should handle an error by serving a 500 error to
+// the user. The error details should not be sent to the client, as
+// they may contain sensitive information.
+//
+// In addition, if the returned error is an HTTPError, callers should
+// use the HTTP response code and message as the response to the
+// client.
 type Handler interface {
-	ServeHTTP(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
+	ServeHTTPErr(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request) error
 }
 
 // handler is an http.Handler that wraps a Handler and handles errors.
@@ -151,6 +163,7 @@ type handler struct {
 	logf logger.Logf
 }
 
+// ServeHTTP implements the http.Handler interface.
 func (h handler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	msg := Msg{
 		Where: "http",
@@ -162,7 +175,7 @@ func (h handler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			Referer:    r.Referer(),
 		},
 	}
-	err := h.h.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+	err := h.h.ServeHTTPErr(w, r)
 	if err == context.Canceled {
 		// No need to inform client, but still log the
 		// cancellation.
@@ -188,12 +201,28 @@ func (h handler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	h.logf("%s", msg)
 }
 
-// ErrHandler returns an http.Handler that logs requests and handles
-// errors from the inner Handler.
-func ErrHandler(h Handler, logf logger.Logf) http.Handler {
+// StdHandler converts a Handler into a standard http.Handler.
+// Handled requests and any errors returned by h are logged using
+// logf. Errors are handled as specified by the Handler interface.
+func StdHandler(h Handler, logf logger.Logf) http.Handler {
 	return handler{h, logf}
 }
 
+// HTTPError is an error with embedded HTTP response information.
+type HTTPError struct {
+	Code int    // HTTP response code to send to client
+	Msg  string // Response body to send to client
+	Err  error  // Detailed error to log on the server
+}
+
+// Error implements the error interface.
+func (e HTTPError) Error() string { return fmt.Sprintf("httperror{%d, %q, %v}", e.Code, e.Msg, e.Err) }
+
+// Error returns an HTTPError containing the given information.
+func Error(code int, msg string, err error) HTTPError {
+	return HTTPError{Code: code, Msg: msg, Err: err}
+}
+
 // varzHandler is an HTTP handler to write expvar values into the
 // prometheus export format:
 //