diff --git a/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pyx b/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pyx
index d65d06b4c..1379d4691 100644
--- a/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pyx
+++ b/pysam/libcalignmentfile.pyx
@@ -2256,9 +2256,16 @@ cdef class IteratorRowAllRefs(IteratorRow):
             self.rowiter.cnext()
 
             # If current iterator is not exhausted, return aligned read
-            if self.rowiter.retval > 0:
+            if self.rowiter.retval >= 0:
                 return makeAlignedSegment(self.rowiter.b, self.header)
 
+            if self.rowiter.retval == -2:
+                raise IOError('truncated file')
+            elif self.rowiter.retval < -1:
+                raise IOError(
+                    "error while reading file {}: {}".format(
+                        self.samfile.filename, self.rowiter.retval))
+
             self.tid += 1
 
             # Otherwise, proceed to next reference or stop