diff --git a/lib/app/index.js b/lib/app/index.js
index 7970cee9ec..740c6b41c4 100644
--- a/lib/app/index.js
+++ b/lib/app/index.js
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ const app = {
     err: null,
     error (err) {
       err = err || null
+      if (typeof err === 'string') {
+        err = { statusCode: 500, message: err }
+      }
       this.$options._nuxt.err = err;
       return err
     }