diff --git a/lib/cc/services/github_pull_requests.rb b/lib/cc/services/github_pull_requests.rb
index bf89b7e..b5d9490 100644
--- a/lib/cc/services/github_pull_requests.rb
+++ b/lib/cc/services/github_pull_requests.rb
@@ -21,10 +21,14 @@ class Config < CC::Service::Config
   BASE_URL = "https://api.github.com"
   BODY_REGEX = %r{<b>Code Climate</b> has <a href=".*">analyzed this pull request</a>}
   COMMENT_BODY = '<img src="https://codeclimate.com/favicon.png" width="20" height="20" />&nbsp;<b>Code Climate</b> has <a href="%s">analyzed this pull request</a>.'
-
   # Just make sure we can access GH using the configured token. Without
   # additional information (github-slug, PR number, etc) we can't test much
   # else.
+
+  MESSAGES = [
+    DEFAULT_ERROR = "Code Climate encountered an error attempting to analyze this pull request",
+  ]
+
   def receive_test
     setup_http
 
@@ -87,8 +91,7 @@ def presenter
   def update_status_error
     update_status(
       "error",
-      "Code Climate encountered an error while attempting to analyze this " +
-        "pull request."
+      @payload["message"] || DEFAULT_ERROR
     )
   end
 
@@ -104,6 +107,9 @@ def update_status(state, description)
         target_url:  @payload["details_url"],
         context:     "codeclimate"
       }
+      if state == "error"
+        params.delete(:target_url)
+      end
       @response = service_post(status_url, params.to_json)
     end
   end
diff --git a/test/github_pull_requests_test.rb b/test/github_pull_requests_test.rb
index cbd1333..376352e 100644
--- a/test/github_pull_requests_test.rb
+++ b/test/github_pull_requests_test.rb
@@ -62,13 +62,28 @@ def test_pull_request_status_success_generic
   def test_pull_request_status_error
     expect_status_update("pbrisbin/foo", "abc123", {
       "state"       => "error",
-      "description" => /encountered an error/,
+      "description" => CC::Service::GitHubPullRequests::DEFAULT_ERROR,
     })
 
     receive_pull_request({ update_status: true }, {
       github_slug: "pbrisbin/foo",
       commit_sha:  "abc123",
       state:       "error",
+      message:     nil,
+    })
+  end
+
+    def test_pull_request_status_error_message_provided
+    expect_status_update("pbrisbin/foo", "abc123", {
+      "state"       => "error",
+      "description" => "descriptive message",
+    })
+
+    receive_pull_request({ update_status: true }, {
+      github_slug: "pbrisbin/foo",
+      commit_sha:  "abc123",
+      state:       "error",
+      message:     "descriptive message",
     })
   end
 
@@ -112,6 +127,7 @@ def test_no_status_update_for_error_when_update_status_config_is_falsey
       github_slug: "pbrisbin/foo",
       commit_sha:  "abc123",
       state:       "error",
+      message:     nil,
     })
   end