diff --git a/responder/api.py b/responder/api.py
index 005c153..135c199 100644
--- a/responder/api.py
+++ b/responder/api.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import yaml
 from apispec import APISpec, yaml_utils
 from apispec.ext.marshmallow import MarshmallowPlugin
 from asgiref.wsgi import WsgiToAsgi
+from starlette.exceptions import ExceptionMiddleware
 from starlette.middleware.errors import ServerErrorMiddleware
 from starlette.lifespan import LifespanHandler
 from starlette.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
@@ -128,6 +129,8 @@ class API:
 
         self.default_endpoint = None
         self.app = self.dispatch
+        self.exception_middleware = ExceptionMiddleware(self.dispatch, debug=debug)
+        self.app = self.exception_middleware
         self.add_middleware(GZipMiddleware)
 
         if self.hsts_enabled:
diff --git a/tests/test_responder.py b/tests/test_responder.py
index 393ff1c..54bbf72 100644
--- a/tests/test_responder.py
+++ b/tests/test_responder.py
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ def test_500(api):
     def catcher(request, exc):
         return PlainTextResponse("Suppressed error", 500)
 
-    api.app.add_exception_handler(ValueError, catcher)
+    api.exception_middleware.add_exception_handler(ValueError, catcher)
 
     @api.route("/")
     def view(req, resp):