diff --git a/include/api.php b/include/api.php
index d54e540f79..55e39e3583 100644
--- a/include/api.php
+++ b/include/api.php
@@ -161,10 +161,7 @@
 		if (!isset($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER'])) {
 			logger('API_login: ' . print_r($_SERVER,true), LOGGER_DEBUG);
 			header('WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="Friendica"');
-			header('HTTP/1.0 401 Unauthorized');
-			die((api_error($a, 'json', "This api requires login")));
-
-			//die('This api requires login');
+			throw new UnauthorizedException("This API requires login");
 		}
 
 		$user = $_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER'];
@@ -216,8 +213,9 @@
 		if((! $record) || (! count($record))) {
 			logger('API_login failure: ' . print_r($_SERVER,true), LOGGER_DEBUG);
 			header('WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="Friendica"');
-			header('HTTP/1.0 401 Unauthorized');
-			die('This api requires login');
+			#header('HTTP/1.0 401 Unauthorized');
+			#die('This api requires login');
+			throw new UnauthorizedException("This API requires login");
 		}
 
 		authenticate_success($record); $_SESSION["allow_api"] = true;
@@ -331,7 +329,8 @@
 	 *
 	 * @param Api $a
 	 * @param string $type Return type (xml, json, rss, as)
-	 * @param string $error Error message
+	 * @param HTTPException $error Error object
+	 * @return strin error message formatted as $type
 	 */
 	function api_error(&$a, $type, $e) {
 		$error = ($e->getMessage()!==""?$e->getMessage():$e->httpdesc);
@@ -903,7 +902,8 @@
 
 				if ($posts_day > $throttle_day) {
 					logger('Daily posting limit reached for user '.api_user(), LOGGER_DEBUG);
-					die(api_error($a, $type, sprintf(t("Daily posting limit of %d posts reached. The post was rejected."), $throttle_day)));
+					#die(api_error($a, $type, sprintf(t("Daily posting limit of %d posts reached. The post was rejected."), $throttle_day)));
+					throw new TooManyRequestsException(sprintf(t("Daily posting limit of %d posts reached. The post was rejected."), $throttle_day));
 				}
 			}
 
@@ -922,7 +922,9 @@
 
 				if ($posts_week > $throttle_week) {
 					logger('Weekly posting limit reached for user '.api_user(), LOGGER_DEBUG);
-					die(api_error($a, $type, sprintf(t("Weekly posting limit of %d posts reached. The post was rejected."), $throttle_week)));
+					#die(api_error($a, $type, sprintf(t("Weekly posting limit of %d posts reached. The post was rejected."), $throttle_week)));
+					throw new TooManyRequestsException(sprintf(t("Weekly posting limit of %d posts reached. The post was rejected."), $throttle_week));
+
 				}
 			}
 
@@ -941,7 +943,8 @@
 
 				if ($posts_month > $throttle_month) {
 					logger('Monthly posting limit reached for user '.api_user(), LOGGER_DEBUG);
-					die(api_error($a, $type, sprintf(t("Monthly posting limit of %d posts reached. The post was rejected."), $throttle_month)));
+					#die(api_error($a, $type, sprintf(t("Monthly posting limit of %d posts reached. The post was rejected."), $throttle_month)));
+					throw new TooManyRequestsException(sprintf(t("Monthly posting limit of %d posts reached. The post was rejected."), $throttle_month));
 				}
 			}
 
@@ -1809,7 +1812,7 @@
 		$action_argv_id=2;
 		if ($a->argv[1]=="1.1") $action_argv_id=3;
 
-		if ($a->argc<=$action_argv_id) die(api_error($a, $type, t("Invalid request.")));
+		if ($a->argc<=$action_argv_id) throw new BadRequestException("Invalid request.");
 		$action = str_replace(".".$type,"",$a->argv[$action_argv_id]);
 		if ($a->argc==$action_argv_id+2) {
 			$itemid = intval($a->argv[$action_argv_id+1]);