diff --git a/src/commands.cc b/src/commands.cc
index 7f381853..8540bc2c 100644
--- a/src/commands.cc
+++ b/src/commands.cc
@@ -125,9 +125,9 @@ void edit(const CommandParameters& params, Context& context)
 
     if (param_count > 1)
     {
-        int line = std::max(0, stoi(parser[1]) - 1);
+        int line = std::max(0, str_to_int(parser[1]) - 1);
         int column = param_count > 2 ?
-                     std::max(0, stoi(parser[2]) - 1) : 0;
+                     std::max(0, str_to_int(parser[2]) - 1) : 0;
 
         context.editor().select(context.buffer().iterator_at({ line,  column }));
         if (context.has_window())
diff --git a/src/highlighters.cc b/src/highlighters.cc
index 1cab851f..9bbcc7aa 100644
--- a/src/highlighters.cc
+++ b/src/highlighters.cc
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ HighlighterAndId colorize_regex_factory(const HighlighterParameters params, cons
                 throw runtime_error("wrong colorspec: '" + *it +
                                      "' expected <capture>:<fgcolor>[,<bgcolor>]");
 
-            int capture = stoi(res[1].str());
+            int capture = str_to_int(res[1].str());
             const ColorPair*& color = colors[capture];
             color = &get_color(res[2].str());
         }
diff --git a/src/input_handler.cc b/src/input_handler.cc
index 7f3387c1..875618ce 100644
--- a/src/input_handler.cc
+++ b/src/input_handler.cc
@@ -536,17 +536,17 @@ static BufferCompletion complete_opt(const BufferIterator& pos, OptionManager& o
     boost::smatch match;
     if (boost::regex_match(desc.begin(), desc.end(), match, re))
     {
-        BufferCoord coord{ stoi(match[1].str()) - 1, stoi(match[2].str()) - 1 };
+        BufferCoord coord{ str_to_int(match[1].str()) - 1, str_to_int(match[2].str()) - 1 };
         if (not pos.buffer().is_valid(coord))
             return {};
         BufferIterator beg{pos.buffer(), coord};
         BufferIterator end = beg;
         if (match[3].matched)
         {
-            ByteCount len = stoi(match[3].str());
+            ByteCount len = str_to_int(match[3].str());
             end = beg + len;
         }
-        size_t timestamp = (size_t)stoi(match[4].str());
+        size_t timestamp = (size_t)str_to_int(match[4].str());
 
         size_t longest_completion = 0;
         for (auto it = opt.begin() + 1; it != opt.end(); ++it)
diff --git a/src/option_types.hh b/src/option_types.hh
index ac7e4c32..c9a2d7f3 100644
--- a/src/option_types.hh
+++ b/src/option_types.hh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ inline String option_to_string(const String& opt) { return opt; }
 inline void option_from_string(const String& str, String& opt) { opt = str; }
 
 inline String option_to_string(int opt) { return to_string(opt); }
-inline void option_from_string(const String& str, int& opt) { opt = stoi(str); }
+inline void option_from_string(const String& str, int& opt) { opt = str_to_int(str); }
 inline bool option_add(int& opt, int val) { opt += val; return val != 0; }
 
 inline String option_to_string(bool opt) { return opt ? "true" : "false"; }
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ inline String option_to_string(const StronglyTypedNumber<RealType, ValueType>& o
 template<typename RealType, typename ValueType>
 inline void option_from_string(const String& str, StronglyTypedNumber<RealType, ValueType>& opt)
 {
-     opt = StronglyTypedNumber<RealType, ValueType>{stoi(str)};
+     opt = StronglyTypedNumber<RealType, ValueType>{str_to_int(str)};
 }
 
 template<typename RealType, typename ValueType>
diff --git a/src/string.cc b/src/string.cc
index e7dd167f..2c180e50 100644
--- a/src/string.cc
+++ b/src/string.cc
@@ -23,6 +23,18 @@ std::vector<String> split(const String& str, char separator)
     return res;
 }
 
+int str_to_int(const String& str)
+{
+    try
+    {
+        return stoi(str);
+    }
+    catch (std::logic_error&)
+    {
+        throw runtime_error(str + "is not a number");
+    }
+}
+
 String option_to_string(const Regex& re)
 {
     return String{re.str()};
diff --git a/src/string.hh b/src/string.hh
index e579b741..fb80d425 100644
--- a/src/string.hh
+++ b/src/string.hh
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ inline String codepoint_to_str(Codepoint cp)
 String option_to_string(const Regex& re);
 void option_from_string(const String& str, Regex& re);
 
+int str_to_int(const String& str);
 
 using std::to_string;