diff --git a/collada_urdf/include/collada_urdf/ColladaWriter.h b/collada_urdf/include/collada_urdf/ColladaWriter.h
index 63450e5..dac9890 100644
--- a/collada_urdf/include/collada_urdf/ColladaWriter.h
+++ b/collada_urdf/include/collada_urdf/ColladaWriter.h
@@ -75,15 +75,14 @@ private:
     };
 
 public:
-    /**
-     * \brief Create a ColladaWriter using the specified URDF filename.
+    /** \brief Create a ColladaWriter using the specified URDF filename.
      *
      * \param filename The name of the URDF file to convert
+     * \throws ColladaWriterException if file could not be opened, or URDF could not be parsed
      */
     ColladaWriter(std::string const& filename);
 
-    /**
-     * \brief Create a ColladaWriter using the specified URDF robot model and source.
+    /** \brief Create a ColladaWriter using the specified URDF robot model and source.
      *
      * \param robot The URDF model to write
      * \param source The source of the model, e.g. the URL the URDF was read from
@@ -92,8 +91,7 @@ public:
 
     virtual ~ColladaWriter();
 
-    /**
-     * \brief Write the model to a COLLADA file.
+    /** \brief Write the model to a COLLADA file.
      *
      * \param documentName The filename of the document to write to
      * \return True if the file was successfully written
diff --git a/collada_urdf/src/ColladaWriter.cpp b/collada_urdf/src/ColladaWriter.cpp
index 78c3d54..0981b40 100644
--- a/collada_urdf/src/ColladaWriter.cpp
+++ b/collada_urdf/src/ColladaWriter.cpp
@@ -276,20 +276,37 @@ void ColladaWriter::loadMesh(string const& filename, domGeometryRef geometry, st
     }
 
     // Try assimp first, then STLLoader
-    if (!loadMeshWithSTLLoader(resource, geometry, geometry_id))
-        std::cerr << "Can't load mesh " << filename << std::endl;
+    try {
+        loadMeshWithSTLLoader(resource, geometry, geometry_id);
+    }
+    catch (ColladaWriterException e) {
+        std::cerr << "Unable to load mesh file " << filename << ": " << e.what() << std::endl;
+    }
 }
 
 bool ColladaWriter::loadMeshWithSTLLoader(resource_retriever::MemoryResource const& resource, domGeometryRef geometry, string const& geometry_id) {
     // Write the resource to a temporary file
     char tmp_filename[] = "/tmp/collada_urdf_XXXXXX";
     int fd = mkstemp(tmp_filename);
-    write(fd, resource.data.get(), resource.size);
+    if (fd == -1)
+        throw ColladaWriterException("Couldn't create temporary file");
+
+    if (write(fd, resource.data.get(), resource.size) != resource.size) {
+        close(fd);
+        unlink(tmp_filename);
+        throw ColladaWriterException("Couldn't write resource to file");
+    }
     close(fd);
 
     // Import the mesh using STLLoader
     STLLoader loader;
     shared_ptr<Mesh> stl_mesh = loader.load(string(tmp_filename));
+    if (stl_mesh == shared_ptr<Mesh>()) {
+        unlink(tmp_filename);
+        throw ColladaWriterException("Couldn't import mesh with STLLoader");
+    }
+
+    // Build the COLLADA mesh
     buildMeshFromSTLLoader(stl_mesh, geometry, geometry_id);
 
     // Delete the temporary file
diff --git a/collada_urdf/src/STLLoader.cpp b/collada_urdf/src/STLLoader.cpp
index 88dfe6a..138f56c 100644
--- a/collada_urdf/src/STLLoader.cpp
+++ b/collada_urdf/src/STLLoader.cpp
@@ -73,9 +73,11 @@ void Mesh::addIndex(unsigned int i)    { indices.push_back(i);  }
 // STLLoader
 
 shared_ptr<Mesh> STLLoader::load(std::string const& filename) {
-    mesh_ = shared_ptr<Mesh>(new Mesh);
-
     file_ = fopen(filename.c_str(), "r");
+    if (file_ == NULL)
+        return shared_ptr<Mesh>();
+
+    mesh_ = shared_ptr<Mesh>(new Mesh);
     readBinary();
     fclose(file_);
     file_ = NULL;