diff --git a/tests/Tests/Old.hs b/tests/Tests/Old.hs
index b76043887..a8ac717e4 100644
--- a/tests/Tests/Old.hs
+++ b/tests/Tests/Old.hs
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import Prelude hiding ( readFile )
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as B
 import Text.Pandoc.UTF8 (toStringLazy)
 import Text.Printf
-import Text.Pandoc.Error
 import Tests.Helpers (purely)
 
 readFileUTF8 :: FilePath -> IO String
@@ -197,7 +196,7 @@ lhsReaderTest format =
   testWithNormalize normalizer "lhs" ["-r", format, "-w", "native"]
     ("lhs-test" <.> format) norm
    where normalizer = purely $ \nat -> do
-                           d <- handleError <$> readNative nat
+                           d <- readNative nat
                            writeNative def $ normalize d
          norm = if format == "markdown+lhs"
                    then "lhs-test-markdown.native"
diff --git a/tests/Tests/Readers/Docx.hs b/tests/Tests/Readers/Docx.hs
index 59147b664..22fdf575a 100644
--- a/tests/Tests/Readers/Docx.hs
+++ b/tests/Tests/Readers/Docx.hs
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ import Text.Pandoc.Writers.Native (writeNative)
 import qualified Data.Map as M
 import Text.Pandoc.MediaBag (MediaBag, lookupMedia, mediaDirectory)
 import Codec.Archive.Zip
-import Text.Pandoc.Error
 import Text.Pandoc.Class (runIOorExplode)
+import qualified Text.Pandoc.Class as P
 
 -- We define a wrapper around pandoc that doesn't normalize in the
 -- tests. Since we do our own normalization, we want to make sure
@@ -43,9 +43,9 @@ compareOutput :: ReaderOptions
 compareOutput opts docxFile nativeFile = do
   df <- B.readFile docxFile
   nf <- Prelude.readFile nativeFile
-  let (p, _) = handleError $ readDocx opts df
+  p <- runIOorExplode $ readDocx opts df
   df' <- runIOorExplode $ readNative nf
-  return $ (noNorm p, noNorm $ handleError df')
+  return $ (noNorm p, noNorm df')
 
 testCompareWithOptsIO :: ReaderOptions -> String -> FilePath -> FilePath -> IO Test
 testCompareWithOptsIO opts name docxFile nativeFile = do
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ testCompare = testCompareWithOpts def
 testForWarningsWithOptsIO :: ReaderOptions -> String -> FilePath -> [String] -> IO Test
 testForWarningsWithOptsIO opts name docxFile expected = do
   df <- B.readFile docxFile
-  let (_, _, warns) = handleError $ readDocxWithWarnings opts df
+  warns <-  runIOorExplode (readDocx opts df >> P.getWarnings)
   return $ test id name (unlines warns, unlines expected)
 
 testForWarningsWithOpts :: ReaderOptions -> String -> FilePath -> [String] -> Test
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ compareMediaPathIO mediaPath mediaBag docxPath = do
 compareMediaBagIO :: FilePath -> IO Bool
 compareMediaBagIO docxFile = do
     df <- B.readFile docxFile
-    let (_, mb) = handleError $ readDocx def df
+    mb <- runIOorExplode (readDocx def df >> P.getMediaBag)
     bools <- mapM
              (\(fp, _, _) -> compareMediaPathIO fp mb docxFile)
              (mediaDirectory mb)
diff --git a/tests/Tests/Readers/EPUB.hs b/tests/Tests/Readers/EPUB.hs
index 2ad36eba6..9190671c3 100644
--- a/tests/Tests/Readers/EPUB.hs
+++ b/tests/Tests/Readers/EPUB.hs
@@ -7,10 +7,12 @@ import Test.Framework.Providers.HUnit
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as BL
 import Text.Pandoc.Readers.EPUB
 import Text.Pandoc.MediaBag (MediaBag, mediaDirectory)
-import Text.Pandoc.Error
+import qualified Text.Pandoc.Class as P
 
 getMediaBag :: FilePath -> IO MediaBag
-getMediaBag fp = snd . handleError . readEPUB def <$> BL.readFile fp
+getMediaBag fp = do
+  bs <- BL.readFile fp
+  snd <$> (P.runIOorExplode $ P.withMediaBag $ readEPUB def bs)
 
 testMediaBag :: FilePath -> [(String, String, Int)] -> IO ()
 testMediaBag fp bag = do
diff --git a/tests/Tests/Readers/HTML.hs b/tests/Tests/Readers/HTML.hs
index 1426a8bea..a1533e42a 100644
--- a/tests/Tests/Readers/HTML.hs
+++ b/tests/Tests/Readers/HTML.hs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import Text.Pandoc.Builder
 import Text.Pandoc
 
 html :: String -> Pandoc
-html = handleError . readHtml def
+html = purely $ readHtml def
 
 tests :: [Test]
 tests = [ testGroup "base tag"
diff --git a/tests/Tests/Readers/LaTeX.hs b/tests/Tests/Readers/LaTeX.hs
index 27e775724..45e88d90e 100644
--- a/tests/Tests/Readers/LaTeX.hs
+++ b/tests/Tests/Readers/LaTeX.hs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import Text.Pandoc.Builder
 import Text.Pandoc
 
 latex :: String -> Pandoc
-latex = handleError . readLaTeX def
+latex = purely $ readLaTeX def
 
 infix 4 =:
 (=:) :: ToString c
diff --git a/tests/Tests/Readers/Markdown.hs b/tests/Tests/Readers/Markdown.hs
index 439307dc9..b43a0ec49 100644
--- a/tests/Tests/Readers/Markdown.hs
+++ b/tests/Tests/Readers/Markdown.hs
@@ -10,17 +10,17 @@ import qualified Data.Set as Set
 import Text.Pandoc
 
 markdown :: String -> Pandoc
-markdown = handleError . readMarkdown def
+markdown = purely $ readMarkdown def
 
 markdownSmart :: String -> Pandoc
-markdownSmart = handleError . readMarkdown def { readerSmart = True }
+markdownSmart = purely $  readMarkdown def { readerSmart = True }
 
 markdownCDL :: String -> Pandoc
-markdownCDL = handleError . readMarkdown def { readerExtensions = Set.insert
+markdownCDL = purely $ readMarkdown def { readerExtensions = Set.insert
                  Ext_compact_definition_lists $ readerExtensions def }
 
 markdownGH :: String -> Pandoc
-markdownGH = handleError . readMarkdown def { readerExtensions = githubMarkdownExtensions }
+markdownGH = purely $ readMarkdown def { readerExtensions = githubMarkdownExtensions }
 
 infix 4 =:
 (=:) :: ToString c
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ infix 4 =:
 
 testBareLink :: (String, Inlines) -> Test
 testBareLink (inp, ils) =
-  test (handleError . readMarkdown def{ readerExtensions =
+  test (purely $ readMarkdown def{ readerExtensions =
              Set.fromList [Ext_autolink_bare_uris, Ext_raw_html] })
        inp (inp, doc $ para ils)
 
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ tests = [ testGroup "inline code"
             =?> para (note (para "See [^1]"))
           ]
         , testGroup "lhs"
-          [ test (handleError . readMarkdown def{ readerExtensions = Set.insert
+          [ test (purely $ readMarkdown def{ readerExtensions = Set.insert
                        Ext_literate_haskell $ readerExtensions def })
               "inverse bird tracks and html" $
               "> a\n\n< b\n\n<div>\n"
diff --git a/tests/Tests/Readers/Odt.hs b/tests/Tests/Readers/Odt.hs
index 0ff527130..db9184107 100644
--- a/tests/Tests/Readers/Odt.hs
+++ b/tests/Tests/Readers/Odt.hs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import Text.Pandoc.Options
 import Text.Pandoc.Readers.Native
 import Text.Pandoc.Readers.Markdown
 import Text.Pandoc.Definition
-import Text.Pandoc.Class (runIOorExplode)
+import Text.Pandoc.Class (runIOorExplode, runIO, withMediaBag)
 import Tests.Helpers
 import Test.Framework
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as B
@@ -63,17 +63,16 @@ compareOdtToNative   :: TestCreator
 compareOdtToNative opts odtPath nativePath = do
    nativeFile   <- Prelude.readFile nativePath
    odtFile      <- B.readFile       odtPath
-   native       <- getNoNormVia id  "native" <$>
-                      runIOorExplode (readNative nativeFile)
-   let odt      =  getNoNormVia fst "odt"      $ readOdt      opts odtFile
+   native       <- getNoNormVia id  "native" <$> runIO (readNative nativeFile)
+   odt          <- getNoNormVia id  "odt"    <$> runIO (readOdt  opts odtFile)
    return (odt,native)
 
 compareOdtToMarkdown :: TestCreator
 compareOdtToMarkdown opts odtPath markdownPath = do
    markdownFile <- Prelude.readFile markdownPath
    odtFile      <- B.readFile       odtPath
-   let markdown =  getNoNormVia id  "markdown" $ readMarkdown opts markdownFile
-   let odt      =  getNoNormVia fst "odt"      $ readOdt      opts odtFile
+   markdown     <- getNoNormVia id "markdown" <$> runIO (readMarkdown opts markdownFile)
+   odt          <- getNoNormVia id "odt"      <$> runIO (readOdt      opts odtFile)
    return (odt,markdown)
 
 
diff --git a/tests/Tests/Readers/Org.hs b/tests/Tests/Readers/Org.hs
index 72b7e2601..b1db75b83 100644
--- a/tests/Tests/Readers/Org.hs
+++ b/tests/Tests/Readers/Org.hs
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ import Text.Pandoc
 import Data.List (intersperse)
 
 org :: String -> Pandoc
-org = handleError . readOrg def
+org = purely $ readOrg def
 
 orgSmart :: String -> Pandoc
-orgSmart = handleError . readOrg def { readerSmart = True }
+orgSmart = purely $ readOrg def { readerSmart = True }
 
 infix 4 =:
 (=:) :: ToString c
diff --git a/tests/Tests/Readers/RST.hs b/tests/Tests/Readers/RST.hs
index 9ecbb7af7..464720496 100644
--- a/tests/Tests/Readers/RST.hs
+++ b/tests/Tests/Readers/RST.hs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import Text.Pandoc.Builder
 import Text.Pandoc
 
 rst :: String -> Pandoc
-rst = handleError . readRST def{ readerStandalone = True }
+rst = purely $ readRST def{ readerStandalone = True }
 
 infix 4 =:
 (=:) :: ToString c
diff --git a/tests/Tests/Readers/Txt2Tags.hs b/tests/Tests/Readers/Txt2Tags.hs
index 1bda32a49..33502ba78 100644
--- a/tests/Tests/Readers/Txt2Tags.hs
+++ b/tests/Tests/Readers/Txt2Tags.hs
@@ -10,8 +10,10 @@ import Text.Pandoc
 import Data.List (intersperse)
 import Text.Pandoc.Readers.Txt2Tags
 
+
 t2t :: String -> Pandoc
-t2t = handleError . readTxt2Tags (T2TMeta "date" "mtime" "in" "out") def
+-- t2t = handleError . readTxt2Tags (T2TMeta "date" "mtime" "in" "out") def
+t2t = purely $ readTxt2Tags def
 
 infix 4 =:
 (=:) :: ToString c
diff --git a/tests/Tests/Writers/Docx.hs b/tests/Tests/Writers/Docx.hs
index cdaa2c097..548e9ddcf 100644
--- a/tests/Tests/Writers/Docx.hs
+++ b/tests/Tests/Writers/Docx.hs
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import Tests.Helpers
 import Test.Framework
 import Text.Pandoc.Readers.Docx
 import Text.Pandoc.Writers.Docx
-import Text.Pandoc.Error
 import System.FilePath ((</>))
 import Text.Pandoc.Class (runIOorExplode)
 
@@ -22,10 +21,10 @@ compareOutput opts nativeFileIn nativeFileOut = do
   nf' <- Prelude.readFile nativeFileOut
   let wopts = fst opts
   df <- runIOorExplode $ do
-            d <- handleError <$> readNative nf
+            d <- readNative nf
             writeDocx wopts{writerUserDataDir = Just (".." </> "data")} d
-  df' <- handleError <$> runIOorExplode (readNative nf')
-  let (p, _) = handleError $ readDocx (snd opts) df
+  df' <- runIOorExplode (readNative nf')
+  p <- runIOorExplode $ readDocx (snd opts) df
   return (p, df')
 
 testCompareWithOptsIO :: Options -> String -> FilePath -> FilePath -> IO Test