diff --git a/lib/cppcheck.cpp b/lib/cppcheck.cpp
index 45bfca1a4..55130f806 100644
--- a/lib/cppcheck.cpp
+++ b/lib/cppcheck.cpp
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ unsigned int CppCheck::checkFile(const std::string& filename, const std::string
         std::set<unsigned long long> checksums;
         unsigned int checkCount = 0;
         bool hasValidConfig = false;
+        std::list<std::string> configurationError;
         for (std::set<std::string>::const_iterator it = configurations.begin(); it != configurations.end(); ++it) {
             // bail out if terminated
             if (_settings.terminated())
@@ -361,9 +362,9 @@ unsigned int CppCheck::checkFile(const std::string& filename, const std::string
                 const simplecpp::TokenList &tokensP = preprocessor.preprocess(tokens1, cfg, files);
                 _tokenizer.createTokens(&tokensP);
                 timer.Stop();
+                hasValidConfig = true;
                 if (tokensP.empty())
                     continue;
-                hasValidConfig = true;
 
                 // skip rest of iteration if just checking configuration
                 if (_settings.checkConfiguration)
@@ -418,6 +419,12 @@ unsigned int CppCheck::checkFile(const std::string& filename, const std::string
                     checkSimplifiedTokens(_tokenizer);
                 }
 
+            } catch (const simplecpp::Output &o) {
+                // #error etc during preprocessing
+                configurationError.push_back(std::string(o.location.file() + ':' + MathLib::toString(o.location.line) + ": " + o.msg));
+                --checkCount; // don't count invalid configurations
+                continue;
+
             } catch (const InternalError &e) {
                 internalErrorFound=true;
                 std::list<ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage::FileLocation> locationList;
@@ -445,6 +452,12 @@ unsigned int CppCheck::checkFile(const std::string& filename, const std::string
         }
 
         if (!hasValidConfig && configurations.size() > 1 && _settings.isEnabled(Settings::INFORMATION)) {
+            std::string msg;
+            msg = "This file is not analyzed. Every tested configuration results in preprocessor errors. It seems that Cppcheck failed to extract a valid configuration. Use -v for more details.";
+            msg += "\nThis file is not analyzed. Every tested configuration results in preprocessor errors. It seems that Cppcheck failed to extract a valid configuration. The preprocessor errors:";
+            for (const std::string &s : configurationError)
+                msg += "\n  " + s;
+
             std::list<ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage::FileLocation> locationList;
             ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage::FileLocation loc;
             loc.setfile(Path::toNativeSeparators(filename));
@@ -452,7 +465,7 @@ unsigned int CppCheck::checkFile(const std::string& filename, const std::string
             ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage errmsg(locationList,
                                              loc.getfile(),
                                              Severity::information,
-                                             "No tested configuration is valid, this file is not analyzed.",
+                                             msg,
                                              "noValidConfiguration",
                                              false);
             reportErr(errmsg);
diff --git a/lib/preprocessor.cpp b/lib/preprocessor.cpp
index 49b1ae761..73106618c 100644
--- a/lib/preprocessor.cpp
+++ b/lib/preprocessor.cpp
@@ -619,8 +619,21 @@ simplecpp::TokenList Preprocessor::preprocess(const simplecpp::TokenList &tokens
 
     const bool showerror = (!_settings.userDefines.empty() && !_settings.force);
     reportOutput(outputList, showerror);
-    if (hasErrors(outputList))
-        return simplecpp::TokenList(files);
+    if (hasErrors(outputList)) {
+        for (const simplecpp::Output &output : outputList) {
+            switch (output.type) {
+            case simplecpp::Output::ERROR:
+            case simplecpp::Output::INCLUDE_NESTED_TOO_DEEPLY:
+            case simplecpp::Output::SYNTAX_ERROR:
+            case simplecpp::Output::UNHANDLED_CHAR_ERROR:
+                throw output;
+            case simplecpp::Output::WARNING:
+            case simplecpp::Output::MISSING_HEADER:
+            case simplecpp::Output::PORTABILITY_BACKSLASH:
+                break;
+            };
+        }
+    }
 
     tokens2.removeComments();
 
@@ -675,7 +688,13 @@ std::string Preprocessor::getcode(const std::string &filedata, const std::string
     if (hasErrors(outputList))
         return "";
 
-    return getcode(tokens1, cfg, files, filedata.find("#file") != std::string::npos);
+    std::string ret;
+    try {
+        ret = getcode(tokens1, cfg, files, filedata.find("#file") != std::string::npos);
+    } catch (const simplecpp::Output &o) {
+        ret.clear();
+    }
+    return ret;
 }
 
 void Preprocessor::reportOutput(const simplecpp::OutputList &outputList, bool showerror)
diff --git a/test/testpreprocessor.cpp b/test/testpreprocessor.cpp
index c3020fb05..4abb0f8dc 100644
--- a/test/testpreprocessor.cpp
+++ b/test/testpreprocessor.cpp
@@ -262,6 +262,8 @@ private:
             try {
                 const std::string &cfgcode = preprocessor0.getcode(tokens, *it, files, std::string(code).find("#file") != std::string::npos);
                 actual[*it] = cfgcode;
+            } catch (const simplecpp::Output &o) {
+                actual[*it] = "";
             } catch (...) {
             }
         }