diff --git a/lib/tests/run_tests.js b/lib/tests/run_tests.js
index eb31209a..0ed32c7c 100644
--- a/lib/tests/run_tests.js
+++ b/lib/tests/run_tests.js
@@ -83,8 +83,8 @@ module.exports = {
           mocha.suite.timeout(0);
 
           mocha.suite.beforeAll('Wait for deploy', (done) => {
-            global.embark.onReady(() => {
-              done();
+            global.embark.onReady((err) => {
+              done(err);
             });
           });
 
diff --git a/lib/tests/test.js b/lib/tests/test.js
index 3dcfbf10..a6789da9 100644
--- a/lib/tests/test.js
+++ b/lib/tests/test.js
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ class Test {
     this.contracts = {};
     this.events = new Events();
     this.ready = true;
+    this.error = false;
     this.builtContracts = {};
     this.compiledContracts = {};
 
@@ -111,12 +112,28 @@ class Test {
   }
 
   onReady(callback) {
+    const self = this;
     if (this.ready) {
       return callback();
     }
-    this.events.once('ready', () => {
+    if (this.error) {
+      return callback(this.error);
+    }
+
+    let errorCallback, readyCallback;
+
+    errorCallback = (err) => {
+      self.events.removeListener('ready', readyCallback);
+      callback(err);
+    };
+
+    readyCallback = () => {
+      self.events.removeListener('deployError', errorCallback);
       callback();
-    });
+    };
+
+    this.events.once('ready', readyCallback);
+    this.events.once('deployError', errorCallback);
   }
 
   config(options, callback) {
@@ -175,12 +192,14 @@ class Test {
       },
       function deploy(next) {
         self._deploy(options, (err, accounts) => {
-          self.ready = true;
-          self.events.emit('ready');
           if (err) {
-            console.error(err.red);
+            self.events.emit('deployError', err);
+            self.error = err;
             return next(err);
           }
+          self.ready = true;
+          self.error = false;
+          self.events.emit('ready');
           next(null, accounts);
         });
       }