diff --git a/guacamole/src/main/webapp/app/index/controllers/indexController.js b/guacamole/src/main/webapp/app/index/controllers/indexController.js
index 5cff9625a..15e781945 100644
--- a/guacamole/src/main/webapp/app/index/controllers/indexController.js
+++ b/guacamole/src/main/webapp/app/index/controllers/indexController.js
@@ -28,7 +28,15 @@ angular.module('index').controller('indexController', ['$scope', '$injector',
     var $window          = $injector.get('$window');
     var clipboardService = $injector.get('clipboardService');
     var guacNotification = $injector.get('guacNotification');
-    
+
+    /**
+     * The error that prevents the current page from rendering at all. If no
+     * such error has occurred, this will be null.
+     *
+     * @type Error
+     */
+    $scope.fatalError = null;
+
     /**
      * The notification service.
      */
@@ -159,6 +167,7 @@ angular.module('index').controller('indexController', ['$scope', '$injector',
         $scope.loginHelpText = null;
         $scope.acceptedCredentials = {};
         $scope.expectedCredentials = error.expected;
+        $scope.fatalError = null;
     });
 
     // Prompt for remaining credentials if provided credentials were not enough
@@ -168,6 +177,15 @@ angular.module('index').controller('indexController', ['$scope', '$injector',
         $scope.loginHelpText = error.translatableMessage;
         $scope.acceptedCredentials = parameters;
         $scope.expectedCredentials = error.expected;
+        $scope.fatalError = null;
+    });
+
+    // Replace absolutely all content with an error message if the page itself
+    // cannot be displayed due to an error
+    $scope.$on('guacFatalPageError', function fatalPageError(error) {
+        $scope.page.title = 'APP.NAME';
+        $scope.page.bodyClassName = '';
+        $scope.fatalError = error;
     });
 
     // Update title and CSS class upon navigation
@@ -181,6 +199,7 @@ angular.module('index').controller('indexController', ['$scope', '$injector',
             $scope.loginHelpText = null;
             $scope.acceptedCredentials = null;
             $scope.expectedCredentials = null;
+            $scope.fatalError = null;
 
             // Set title
             var title = current.$$route.title;
diff --git a/guacamole/src/main/webapp/app/index/styles/fatal-page-error.css b/guacamole/src/main/webapp/app/index/styles/fatal-page-error.css
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a6e28ba1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/guacamole/src/main/webapp/app/index/styles/fatal-page-error.css
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+.fatal-page-error-outer {
+    display: table;
+    height: 100%;
+    width: 100%;
+    position: fixed;
+    left: 0;
+    top: 0;
+    z-index: 30;
+}
+
+.fatal-page-error-middle {
+    width: 100%;
+    text-align: center;
+    display: table-cell;
+    vertical-align: middle;
+}
+
+.fatal-page-error {
+    display: inline-block;
+    width: 100%;
+    max-width: 5in;
+    padding: 1em;
+    text-align: left;
+}
+
+.fatal-page-error h1 {
+    text-transform: uppercase;
+    padding: 0;
+    padding-right: 1em;
+}
+
+.fatal-page-error h1::before {
+    content: ' ';
+    display: inline-block;
+    background: url('images/warning.png');
+    background-repeat: no-repeat;
+    height: 1em;
+    width: 1em;
+    background-size: contain;
+    margin: 0 0.25em;
+    margin-bottom: -0.2em;
+}
diff --git a/guacamole/src/main/webapp/index.html b/guacamole/src/main/webapp/index.html
index 5a53d8a23..d4df20d7f 100644
--- a/guacamole/src/main/webapp/index.html
+++ b/guacamole/src/main/webapp/index.html
@@ -32,26 +32,40 @@
     </head>
     <body ng-class="page.bodyClassName">
 
-        <!-- Content for logged-in users -->
-        <div ng-if="!expectedCredentials">
-        
-            <!-- Global status/error dialog -->
-            <div ng-class="{shown: guacNotification.getStatus()}" class="status-outer">
-                <div class="status-middle">
-                    <guac-notification notification="guacNotification.getStatus()"></guac-notification>
+        <div ng-if="!fatalError">
+
+            <!-- Content for logged-in users -->
+            <div ng-if="!expectedCredentials">
+
+                <!-- Global status/error dialog -->
+                <div ng-class="{shown: guacNotification.getStatus()}" class="status-outer">
+                    <div class="status-middle">
+                        <guac-notification notification="guacNotification.getStatus()"></guac-notification>
+                    </div>
                 </div>
+
+                <div id="content" ng-view>
+                </div>
+
             </div>
-            
-            <div id="content" ng-view>
-            </div>
-            
+
+            <!-- Login screen for logged-out users -->
+            <guac-login ng-show="expectedCredentials"
+                        help-text="loginHelpText"
+                        form="expectedCredentials"
+                        values="acceptedCredentials"></guac-login>
+
         </div>
 
-        <!-- Login screen for logged-out users -->
-        <guac-login ng-show="expectedCredentials"
-                    help-text="loginHelpText"
-                    form="expectedCredentials"
-                    values="acceptedCredentials"></guac-login>
+        <!-- Absolute fatal error -->
+        <div ng-if="fatalError" class="fatal-page-error-outer">
+            <div class="fatal-page-error-middle">
+                <div class="fatal-page-error">
+                    <h1 translate="APP.DIALOG_HEADER_ERROR"></h1>
+                    <p translate="APP.ERROR_PAGE_UNAVAILABLE"></p>
+                </div>
+            </div>
+        </div>
 
         <!-- Reformat URL for AngularJS if query parameters are present -->
         <script type="text/javascript" src="relocateParameters.js"></script>
diff --git a/guacamole/src/main/webapp/translations/en.json b/guacamole/src/main/webapp/translations/en.json
index 92e5de00d..9fa242d09 100644
--- a/guacamole/src/main/webapp/translations/en.json
+++ b/guacamole/src/main/webapp/translations/en.json
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 
         "DIALOG_HEADER_ERROR" : "Error",
 
+        "ERROR_PAGE_UNAVAILABLE"  : "An error has occurred and this action cannot be completed. If the problem persists, please notify your system administrator or check your system logs.",
         "ERROR_PASSWORD_BLANK"    : "Your password cannot be blank.",
         "ERROR_PASSWORD_MISMATCH" : "The provided passwords do not match.",