diff --git a/app/__init__.py b/app/__init__.py
index 2bd6469..b7e4741 100644
--- a/app/__init__.py
+++ b/app/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from flask import Flask, session, request
+from flask import Flask, session, request, render_template
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from .models import Avatars, Users, PostHistory, Posts, MOTD
 from .auth import digest
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ def create_app():
         elif request.path.startswith('/api/'):
             return {'error': 'not found'}, e.code
         else:
-            return e
+            return render_template('common/404.html'), e.code
 
     # this only happens at build time but
     # build time is when updates are done anyway
diff --git a/app/templates/common/404.html b/app/templates/common/404.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5caab1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/templates/common/404.html
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{% extends 'base.html' %}
+{% block title %}not found{% endblock %}
+{% block content %}
+  <div class="darkbg settings-container">
+  	<h1 class="thread-title">404 Not Found</h1>
+  	<p>The requested URL does not exist.</p>
+  </div>
+{% endblock %}