diff --git a/R/docker-splash.r b/R/docker-splash.r
index 60da759..ab90f6e 100644
--- a/R/docker-splash.r
+++ b/R/docker-splash.r
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #'
 #' @md
 #' @param tag Splash Docker image tag to install
+#' @return a `docker_image` object or `NULL` if an error occurred.
 #' @export
 #' @family splash_docker_helpers
 #' @examples \dontrun{
@@ -10,8 +11,22 @@
 #' stop_splash(splash_container)
 #' }
 install_splash <- function(tag="latest") {
+
   docker <- stevedore::docker_client()
-  res <- docker$image$pull("scrapinghub/splash", tag=tag, stream=stdout())
+
+  tryCatch(
+    docker$image$pull("scrapinghub/splash", tag=tag, stream=stdout()),
+    error = function(e) {
+      message("Error pulling image from DockerHub.\n", e)
+      return(NULL)
+    },
+    interrupt = function(e) {
+      stop("Terminated by user", call. = FALSE)
+    }
+  ) -> res
+
+  invisible(res)
+
 }
 
 #' Start a Splash server Docker container
@@ -33,7 +48,7 @@ install_splash <- function(tag="latest") {
 #'        Defaults to `FALSE`.
 #' @param ... passed on to Splash instance launch parameters
 #' @family splash_docker_helpers
-#' @return `stevedor` container object
+#' @return `stevedore` container object
 #' @export
 #' @examples \dontrun{
 #' install_splash()
@@ -44,15 +59,24 @@ start_splash <- function(tag="latest", container_name = "splashr", remove=FALSE,
 
   docker <- stevedore::docker_client()
 
-  docker$container$run(
-    image = sprintf("scrapinghub/splash:%s", tag),
-    name = container_name,
-    ports = c("5023:5023", "8051:8051", "8050:8050"),
-    detach = TRUE,
-    rm = remove,
-    tty = TRUE,
-    "--disable-browser-caches",
-    ...
+  tryCatch(
+    docker$container$run(
+      image = sprintf("scrapinghub/splash:%s", tag),
+      name = container_name,
+      ports = c("5023:5023", "8051:8051", "8050:8050"),
+      detach = TRUE,
+      rm = remove,
+      tty = TRUE,
+      "--disable-browser-caches",
+      ...
+    ),
+    error = function(e) {
+      message("Error pulling image from DockerHub.")
+      return(NULL)
+    },
+    interrupt = function(e) {
+      stop("Terminated by user", call. = FALSE)
+    }
   ) -> splash_inst
 
   invisible(splash_inst)
@@ -73,8 +97,10 @@ start_splash <- function(tag="latest", container_name = "splashr", remove=FALSE,
 #' stop_splash(splash_container)
 #' }
 stop_splash <- function(splash_container) {
-  splash_container$stop()
-  splash_container$remove()
+  if (inherits(splash_container, "stevedore_object")) {
+    splash_container$stop()
+    splash_container$remove()
+  }
   invisible(NULL)
 }
 
@@ -90,7 +116,9 @@ stop_splash <- function(splash_container) {
 killall_splash <- function() {
 
   docker <- stevedore::docker_client()
+
   x <- docker$container$list(all=TRUE)
+
   for (i in 1:nrow(x)) {
     if (grepl("bin/splash", x$command[i])) {
       message(sprintf("Pruning: %s...", x$id[i]))
@@ -101,6 +129,7 @@ killall_splash <- function() {
       }
     }
   }
+
 }
 
 
diff --git a/R/utils-safely.R b/R/utils-safely.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8e7f90d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/utils-safely.R
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+# Less cool counterparts to purrr's side-effect capture-rs
+#
+# Most of the helper functions are 100% from output.R in purrr repo
+#
+# @param quiet Hide errors (`TRUE`, the default), or display them
+#   as they occur?
+# @param otherwise Default value to use when an error occurs.
+#
+# @return `safely`: wrapped function instead returns a list with
+#   components `result` and `error`. One value is always `NULL`.
+#
+#   `quietly`: wrapped function instead returns a list with components
+#   `result`, `output`, `messages` and `warnings`.
+#
+#   `possibly`: wrapped function uses a default value (`otherwise`)
+#   whenever an error occurs.
+safely <- function(.f, otherwise = NULL, quiet = TRUE) {
+  function(...) capture_error(.f(...), otherwise, quiet)
+}
+
+quietly <- function(.f) {
+  function(...) capture_output(.f(...))
+}
+
+possibly <- function(.f, otherwise, quiet = TRUE) {
+  force(otherwise)
+  function(...) {
+    tryCatch(.f(...),
+      error = function(e) {
+        if (!quiet)
+          message("Error: ", e$message)
+        otherwise
+      },
+      interrupt = function(e) {
+        stop("Terminated by user", call. = FALSE)
+      }
+    )
+  }
+}
+
+capture_error <- function(code, otherwise = NULL, quiet = TRUE) {
+  tryCatch(
+    list(result = code, error = NULL),
+    error = function(e) {
+      if (!quiet)
+        message("Error: ", e$message)
+
+      list(result = otherwise, error = e)
+    },
+    interrupt = function(e) {
+      stop("Terminated by user", call. = FALSE)
+    }
+  )
+}
+
+capture_output <- function(code) {
+  warnings <- character()
+  wHandler <- function(w) {
+    warnings <<- c(warnings, w$message)
+    invokeRestart("muffleWarning")
+  }
+
+  messages <- character()
+  mHandler <- function(m) {
+    messages <<- c(messages, m$message)
+    invokeRestart("muffleMessage")
+  }
+
+  temp <- file()
+  sink(temp)
+  on.exit({
+    sink()
+    close(temp)
+  })
+
+  result <- withCallingHandlers(
+    code,
+    warning = wHandler,
+    message = mHandler
+  )
+
+  output <- paste0(readLines(temp, warn = FALSE), collapse = "\n")
+
+  list(
+    result = result,
+    output = output,
+    warnings = warnings,
+    messages = messages
+  )
+}
diff --git a/man/install_splash.Rd b/man/install_splash.Rd
index 2422459..df14a72 100644
--- a/man/install_splash.Rd
+++ b/man/install_splash.Rd
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ install_splash(tag = "latest")
 \arguments{
 \item{tag}{Splash Docker image tag to install}
 }
+\value{
+a \code{docker_image} object or \code{NULL} if an error occurred.
+}
 \description{
 Retrieve the Docker image for Splash
 }
diff --git a/man/start_splash.Rd b/man/start_splash.Rd
index 32559d5..995645a 100644
--- a/man/start_splash.Rd
+++ b/man/start_splash.Rd
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ Defaults to `FALSE`.}
 \item{...}{passed on to Splash instance launch parameters}
 }
 \value{
-`stevedor` container object
+`stevedore` container object
 }
 \description{
 If using this in an automation context, you should consider adding a