diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 3e3cdf4..e0d9bc4 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ use std::env;
 use std::path::Path;
 use syntect::highlighting::ThemeSet;
 use syntect::parsing::SyntaxSet;
-
+use std::panic;
 use std::fmt::Write;
 use syntect::easy::HighlightLines;
 use syntect::highlighting::{Color, Theme};
@@ -45,6 +45,20 @@ struct Query {
 
 #[post("/", format = "application/json", data = "<q>")]
 fn index(q: Json<Query>) -> JsonValue {
+    // TODO(slimsag): In an ideal world we wouldn't be relying on catch_unwind
+    // and instead Syntect would return Result types when failures occur. This
+    // will require some non-trivial work upstream:
+    // https://github.com/trishume/syntect/issues/98
+    let result = panic::catch_unwind(|| {
+        highlight(q)
+    });
+    match result {
+        Ok(v) => v,
+        Err(_) => json!({"error": "panic while highlighting code", "code": "panic"}),
+    }
+}
+
+fn highlight(q: Json<Query>) -> JsonValue {
     SYNTAX_SET.with(|syntax_set| {
         // Determine theme to use.
         //