diff --git a/.changeset/real-mice-beg.md b/.changeset/real-mice-beg.md
index bcb4f0ca9a..7dde97f6c2 100644
--- a/.changeset/real-mice-beg.md
+++ b/.changeset/real-mice-beg.md
@@ -3,3 +3,5 @@
 ---
 
 Two new helpers have been added that make it easier to migrate to considering thrown errors to be of the type `unknown` in TypeScript. The helpers are `assertError` and `isError`, and can be called to make sure that an unknown value conforms to the shape of an `ErrorLike` object. The `assertError` function is a type-guard that throws in the case of a mismatch, while `isError` returns false.
+
+A new error constructor has also been added, `ForwardedError`, which can be used to add context to a forwarded error. It requires both a message and a cause, and inherits the `name` property from the `cause`.
diff --git a/packages/errors/src/errors/CustomErrorBase.ts b/packages/errors/src/errors/CustomErrorBase.ts
index a392135c13..4e8674b4dc 100644
--- a/packages/errors/src/errors/CustomErrorBase.ts
+++ b/packages/errors/src/errors/CustomErrorBase.ts
@@ -14,17 +14,28 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+import { isError } from './assertion';
+
 /** @public */
 export class CustomErrorBase extends Error {
   readonly cause?: Error;
 
-  constructor(message?: string, cause?: Error) {
+  constructor(message?: string, cause?: Error | unknown) {
+    let assignedCause: Error | undefined = undefined;
+
     let fullMessage = message;
-    if (cause) {
-      if (fullMessage) {
-        fullMessage += `; caused by ${cause}`;
+    if (cause !== undefined) {
+      let causeStr;
+      if (isError(cause)) {
+        assignedCause = cause;
+        causeStr = String(cause);
       } else {
-        fullMessage = `caused by ${cause}`;
+        causeStr = `unknown error '${cause}'`;
+      }
+      if (fullMessage) {
+        fullMessage += `; caused by ${causeStr}`;
+      } else {
+        fullMessage = `caused by ${causeStr}`;
       }
     }
 
@@ -33,6 +44,6 @@ export class CustomErrorBase extends Error {
     Error.captureStackTrace?.(this, this.constructor);
 
     this.name = this.constructor.name;
-    this.cause = cause;
+    this.cause = assignedCause;
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/errors/src/errors/assertion.ts b/packages/errors/src/errors/assertion.ts
index a0b2d59c11..4e8d939461 100644
--- a/packages/errors/src/errors/assertion.ts
+++ b/packages/errors/src/errors/assertion.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ export type ErrorLike = {
   name: string;
   message: string;
   stack?: string;
+  [unknownKeys: string]: unknown;
 };
 
 export function isError(val: unknown): val is ErrorLike {
diff --git a/packages/errors/src/errors/common.test.ts b/packages/errors/src/errors/common.test.ts
index 232c3e78ef..1b57be2540 100644
--- a/packages/errors/src/errors/common.test.ts
+++ b/packages/errors/src/errors/common.test.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ import * as errors from './common';
 
 describe('common', () => {
   it('extends Error properly', () => {
-    for (const [name, E] of Object.entries(errors)) {
+    const { ForwardedError: _, ...optionalCauseErrors } = { ...errors };
+    for (const [name, E] of Object.entries(optionalCauseErrors)) {
       const error = new E('abcdef');
       expect(error.name).toBe(name);
       expect(error.message).toBe('abcdef');
diff --git a/packages/errors/src/errors/common.ts b/packages/errors/src/errors/common.ts
index dad236d4b5..f9300b9371 100644
--- a/packages/errors/src/errors/common.ts
+++ b/packages/errors/src/errors/common.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+import { isError } from './assertion';
 import { CustomErrorBase } from './CustomErrorBase';
 
 /*
@@ -72,3 +73,19 @@ export class ConflictError extends CustomErrorBase {}
  * @public
  */
 export class NotModifiedError extends CustomErrorBase {}
+
+/**
+ * An error that forwards an underlying cause with additional context in the message.
+ *
+ * The `name` property of the error will be inherited from the `cause` if
+ * possible, and will otherwise be set to `'Error'`.
+ *
+ * @public
+ */
+export class ForwardedError extends CustomErrorBase {
+  constructor(message: string, cause: Error | unknown) {
+    super(message, cause);
+
+    this.name = isError(cause) ? this.constructor.name : 'Error';
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/errors/src/errors/index.ts b/packages/errors/src/errors/index.ts
index 02670f4de9..bc2fb2aa4e 100644
--- a/packages/errors/src/errors/index.ts
+++ b/packages/errors/src/errors/index.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export type { ErrorLike } from './assertion';
 export {
   AuthenticationError,
   ConflictError,
+  ForwardedError,
   InputError,
   NotAllowedError,
   NotFoundError,