diff --git a/lib/errors/errors.go b/lib/errors/errors.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a8a098972
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/errors/errors.go
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+package errors
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"reflect"
+)
+
+// New returns an error that formats as the given text.
+func New(text string) error {
+	return errors.New(text)
+}
+
+// Errorf formats according to a format specifier and returns the string
+// as a value that satisfies error.
+func Errorf(format string, a ...interface{}) error {
+	return fmt.Errorf(format, a...)
+}
+
+// WalkFunc is the signature of the Walk callback function. The function gets the
+// current error in the chain and should return true if the chain processing
+// should be aborted.
+type WalkFunc func(error) bool
+
+// Walk invokes the given function for each error in the chain. If the
+// provided functions returns true or no further cause can be found, the process
+// is stopped and no further calls will be made.
+//
+// The next error in the chain is determined by the following rules:
+// - If the current error has a `Cause() error` method (github.com/pkg/errors),
+//   the return value of this method is used.
+// - If the current error has a `Unwrap() error` method (golang.org/x/xerrors),
+//   the return value of this method is used.
+// - Common errors in the Go runtime that contain an Err field will use this value.
+func Walk(err error, f WalkFunc) {
+	for prev := err; err != nil; prev = err {
+		if f(err) {
+			return
+		}
+
+		switch e := err.(type) {
+		case causer:
+			err = e.Cause()
+		case wrapper:
+			err = e.Unwrap()
+		default:
+			// Unpack any struct or *struct with a field of name Err which satisfies
+			// the error interface. This includes *url.Error, *net.OpError,
+			// *os.SyscallError and many others in the stdlib.
+			errType := reflect.TypeOf(err)
+			errValue := reflect.ValueOf(err)
+			if errValue.IsValid() && errType.Kind() == reflect.Ptr {
+				errType = errType.Elem()
+				errValue = errValue.Elem()
+			}
+			if errValue.IsValid() && errType.Kind() == reflect.Struct {
+				if errField := errValue.FieldByName("Err"); errField.IsValid() {
+					errFieldValue := errField.Interface()
+					if newErr, ok := errFieldValue.(error); ok {
+						err = newErr
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		if err == prev {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+type causer interface {
+	Cause() error
+}
+type wrapper interface {
+	Unwrap() error
+}
diff --git a/lib/errors/errors_test.go b/lib/errors/errors_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1a7c3f5d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/errors/errors_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+package errors_test
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
+	"github.com/ncw/rclone/lib/errors"
+)
+
+func TestWalk(t *testing.T) {
+	origin := errors.New("origin")
+
+	for _, test := range []struct {
+		err   error
+		calls int
+		last  error
+	}{
+		{causerError{nil}, 1, causerError{nil}},
+		{wrapperError{nil}, 1, wrapperError{nil}},
+		{reflectError{nil}, 1, reflectError{nil}},
+		{causerError{origin}, 2, origin},
+		{wrapperError{origin}, 2, origin},
+		{reflectError{origin}, 2, origin},
+		{causerError{reflectError{origin}}, 3, origin},
+		{wrapperError{causerError{origin}}, 3, origin},
+		{reflectError{wrapperError{origin}}, 3, origin},
+		{causerError{reflectError{causerError{origin}}}, 4, origin},
+		{wrapperError{causerError{wrapperError{origin}}}, 4, origin},
+		{reflectError{wrapperError{reflectError{origin}}}, 4, origin},
+
+		{stopError{nil}, 1, stopError{nil}},
+		{stopError{causerError{nil}}, 1, stopError{causerError{nil}}},
+		{stopError{wrapperError{nil}}, 1, stopError{wrapperError{nil}}},
+		{stopError{reflectError{nil}}, 1, stopError{reflectError{nil}}},
+		{causerError{stopError{origin}}, 2, stopError{origin}},
+		{wrapperError{stopError{origin}}, 2, stopError{origin}},
+		{reflectError{stopError{origin}}, 2, stopError{origin}},
+		{causerError{reflectError{stopError{nil}}}, 3, stopError{nil}},
+		{wrapperError{causerError{stopError{nil}}}, 3, stopError{nil}},
+		{reflectError{wrapperError{stopError{nil}}}, 3, stopError{nil}},
+	} {
+		var last error
+		calls := 0
+		errors.Walk(test.err, func(err error) bool {
+			calls++
+			last = err
+			_, stop := err.(stopError)
+			return stop
+		})
+		assert.Equal(t, test.calls, calls)
+		assert.Equal(t, test.last, last)
+	}
+}
+
+type causerError struct {
+	err error
+}
+type wrapperError struct {
+	err error
+}
+type reflectError struct {
+	Err error
+}
+type stopError struct {
+	err error
+}
+
+func (e causerError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("causerError(%s)", e.err)
+}
+func (e causerError) Cause() error {
+	return e.err
+}
+func (e wrapperError) Unwrap() error {
+	return e.err
+}
+func (e wrapperError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("wrapperError(%s)", e.err)
+}
+func (e reflectError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("reflectError(%s)", e.Err)
+}
+func (e stopError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("stopError(%s)", e.err)
+}
+func (e stopError) Cause() error {
+	return e.err
+}