The catchJust and handleJust functions seem a bit weird and unidiomatic. catchJust :: Exception e => (e -> Maybe b) -- ^ Predicate to select exceptions -> IO a -- ^ Computation to run -> (b -> IO a) -- ^ Handler -> IO a catchJust p a handler = catch a handler' where handler' e = case p e of Nothing -> throwIO e Just b -> handler b This takes two functions and then puts them together. I would think the more natural API would be catchMaybe :: Exception e => IO a -> (e -> Maybe (IO a)) -> IO a catchMaybe m handler = catch m handler' where handler' e = fromMaybe (throwIO e) (handler e) This is exactly as powerful as catchJust: catchMaybe m handler = catchJust handler m id catchJust p m handler = catchMaybe m $ fmap handler . p But catchMaybe doesn't enforce the arbitrary separation between "selection" and "handling".