diff --git a/src/core/components/bitswap.js b/src/core/components/bitswap.js
index 4b3b7b7e99..373de852b8 100644
--- a/src/core/components/bitswap.js
+++ b/src/core/components/bitswap.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ module.exports = function bitswap (self) {
   return {
     wantlist: () => {
       if (!self.isOnline()) {
-        throw OFFLINE_ERROR
+        throw new Error(OFFLINE_ERROR)
       }
 
       const list = self._bitswap.getWantlist()
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ module.exports = function bitswap (self) {
     },
     stat: () => {
       if (!self.isOnline()) {
-        throw OFFLINE_ERROR
+        throw new Error(OFFLINE_ERROR)
       }
 
       const stats = self._bitswap.stat()
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ module.exports = function bitswap (self) {
     },
     unwant: (key) => {
       if (!self.isOnline()) {
-        throw OFFLINE_ERROR
+        throw new Error(OFFLINE_ERROR)
       }
 
       // TODO: implement when https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipfs-bitswap/pull/10 is merged
diff --git a/src/core/components/pubsub.js b/src/core/components/pubsub.js
index b0a1eb283d..5feadfaf68 100644
--- a/src/core/components/pubsub.js
+++ b/src/core/components/pubsub.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ module.exports = function pubsub (self) {
   return {
     subscribe: (topic, options, handler, callback) => {
       if (!self.isOnline()) {
-        throw OFFLINE_ERROR
+        throw new Error(OFFLINE_ERROR)
       }
 
       if (typeof options === 'function') {
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ module.exports = function pubsub (self) {
 
     publish: promisify((topic, data, callback) => {
       if (!self.isOnline()) {
-        return setImmediate(() => callback(OFFLINE_ERROR))
+        return setImmediate(() => callback(new Error(OFFLINE_ERROR)))
       }
 
       if (!Buffer.isBuffer(data)) {
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ module.exports = function pubsub (self) {
 
     ls: promisify((callback) => {
       if (!self.isOnline()) {
-        return setImmediate(() => callback(OFFLINE_ERROR))
+        return setImmediate(() => callback(new Error(OFFLINE_ERROR)))
       }
 
       const subscriptions = Array.from(
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ module.exports = function pubsub (self) {
 
     peers: promisify((topic, callback) => {
       if (!self.isOnline()) {
-        return setImmediate(() => callback(OFFLINE_ERROR))
+        return setImmediate(() => callback(new Error(OFFLINE_ERROR)))
       }
 
       const peers = Array.from(self._pubsub.peers.values())
diff --git a/src/core/components/swarm.js b/src/core/components/swarm.js
index f243618a6e..822279f820 100644
--- a/src/core/components/swarm.js
+++ b/src/core/components/swarm.js
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ module.exports = function swarm (self) {
       }
 
       if (!self.isOnline()) {
-        return callback(OFFLINE_ERROR)
+        return callback(new Error(OFFLINE_ERROR))
       }
 
       const verbose = opts.v || opts.verbose
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ module.exports = function swarm (self) {
     // all the addrs we know
     addrs: promisify((callback) => {
       if (!self.isOnline()) {
-        return callback(OFFLINE_ERROR)
+        return callback(new Error(OFFLINE_ERROR))
       }
 
       const peers = values(self._peerInfoBook.getAll())
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ module.exports = function swarm (self) {
 
     localAddrs: promisify((callback) => {
       if (!self.isOnline()) {
-        return callback(OFFLINE_ERROR)
+        return callback(new Error(OFFLINE_ERROR))
       }
 
       callback(null, self._libp2pNode.peerInfo.multiaddrs.toArray())
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ module.exports = function swarm (self) {
 
     connect: promisify((maddr, callback) => {
       if (!self.isOnline()) {
-        return callback(OFFLINE_ERROR)
+        return callback(new Error(OFFLINE_ERROR))
       }
 
       if (typeof maddr === 'string') {
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ module.exports = function swarm (self) {
 
     disconnect: promisify((maddr, callback) => {
       if (!self.isOnline()) {
-        return callback(OFFLINE_ERROR)
+        return callback(new Error(OFFLINE_ERROR))
       }
 
       if (typeof maddr === 'string') {
diff --git a/src/core/utils.js b/src/core/utils.js
index 9203aacb4e..a492250383 100644
--- a/src/core/utils.js
+++ b/src/core/utils.js
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 'use strict'
 
-exports.OFFLINE_ERROR = new Error('This command must be run in online mode. Try running \'ipfs daemon\' first.')
+exports.OFFLINE_ERROR = 'This command must be run in online mode. Try running \'ipfs daemon\' first.'