diff --git a/ghost/admin/views/base.js b/ghost/admin/views/base.js
index aab620edfc..fb93786a7e 100644
--- a/ghost/admin/views/base.js
+++ b/ghost/admin/views/base.js
@@ -54,13 +54,14 @@
         // by `addSubview`, which will in-turn remove any
         // children of those views, and so on.
         removeSubviews: function () {
-            var i, l, children = this.subviews;
+            var children = this.subviews;
+
             if (!children) {
                 return this;
             }
-            for (i = 0, l = children.length; i < l; i += 1) {
-                children[i].remove();
-            }
+
+            _(children).invoke("remove");
+
             this.subviews = [];
             return this;
         },
@@ -72,6 +73,32 @@
                 this.removeSubviews();
             }
             return Backbone.View.prototype.remove.apply(this, arguments);
+        },
+
+        // Used in API request fail handlers to parse a standard api error
+        // response json for the message to display
+        getRequestErrorMessage: function (request) {
+            var message;
+
+            // Can't really continue without a request
+            if (!request) {
+                return null;
+            }
+
+            // Seems like a sensible default
+            message = request.statusText;
+
+            // If a non 200 response
+            if (request.status !== 200) {
+                try {
+                    // Try to parse out the error, or default to "Unknown"
+                    message =  request.responseJSON.error || "Unknown Error";
+                } catch (e) {
+                    message = "The server returned an error (" + (request.status || "?") + ").";
+                }
+            }
+
+            return message;
         }
 
     });
diff --git a/ghost/admin/views/editor.js b/ghost/admin/views/editor.js
index 11c1c82a00..0029e7d15e 100644
--- a/ghost/admin/views/editor.js
+++ b/ghost/admin/views/editor.js
@@ -157,17 +157,20 @@
             if (e) {
                 e.preventDefault();
             }
-            var model = this.model;
+            var view = this,
+                model = this.model;
             this.savePost().then(function () {
                 Ghost.notifications.addItem({
                     type: 'success',
                     message: 'Your post was saved as ' + model.get('status'),
                     status: 'passive'
                 });
-            }, function () {
+            }, function (request) {
+                var message = view.getRequestErrorMessage(request) || model.validationError;
+
                 Ghost.notifications.addItem({
                     type: 'error',
-                    message: model.validationError,
+                    message: message,
                     status: 'passive'
                 });
             });