diff --git a/src/frontend/stmclient.cc b/src/frontend/stmclient.cc
index 18633b0..e4f148c 100644
--- a/src/frontend/stmclient.cc
+++ b/src/frontend/stmclient.cc
@@ -417,9 +417,7 @@ void STMClient::main( void )
       network->tick();
     } catch ( Network::NetworkException e ) {
       if ( !network->shutdown_in_progress() ) {
-	wchar_t tmp[ 128 ];
-	swprintf( tmp, 128, L"%s: %s", e.function.c_str(), strerror( e.the_errno ) );
-	overlays.get_notification_engine().set_notification_string( wstring( tmp ) );
+        overlays.get_notification_engine().set_network_exception( e );
       }
 
       struct timespec req;
diff --git a/src/frontend/terminaloverlay.h b/src/frontend/terminaloverlay.h
index 876a141..68d42e3 100644
--- a/src/frontend/terminaloverlay.h
+++ b/src/frontend/terminaloverlay.h
@@ -137,12 +137,28 @@ namespace Overlay {
     bool need_countup( uint64_t ts ) const { return server_late( ts ) || reply_late( ts ); }
     void adjust_message( void );
     void apply( Framebuffer &fb ) const;
-    void set_notification_string( const wstring &s_message, bool permanent = false ) { message = s_message; if ( permanent ) { message_expiration = -1; } else { message_expiration = timestamp() + 1000; } }
     const wstring &get_notification_string( void ) const { return message; }
     void server_heard( uint64_t s_last_word ) { last_word_from_server = s_last_word; }
     void server_acked( uint64_t s_last_acked ) { last_acked_state = s_last_acked; }
     uint64_t get_message_expiration( void ) const { return message_expiration; }
 
+    void set_notification_string( const wstring &s_message, bool permanent = false )
+    {
+      message = s_message;
+      if ( permanent ) {
+        message_expiration = -1;
+      } else {
+        message_expiration = timestamp() + 1000;
+      }
+    }
+
+    void set_network_exception( const NetworkException &e )
+    {
+      wchar_t tmp[ 128 ];
+      swprintf( tmp, 128, L"%s: %s", e.function.c_str(), strerror( e.the_errno ) );
+      set_notification_string( wstring( tmp ) );
+    }
+
     NotificationEngine();
   };