diff --git a/index.d.ts b/index.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3720cf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/index.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+// TypeScript definitions for http-errors
+
+export interface HttpError extends Error {
+  status: number;
+  statusCode: number;
+  expose: boolean;
+}
+
+interface CreateHttpError {
+  (status: number, message?: string): HttpError;
+  (status: number, err: Error, props?: object): HttpError;
+  (status: number, props: object): HttpError;
+  (message: string, status?: number): HttpError;
+  (err: Error, props?: object): HttpError;
+  HttpError: {
+    new(status: number, message?: string): HttpError;
+  };
+  isHttpError(val: any): boolean;
+}
+
+declare const createError: CreateHttpError;
+export = createError;
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 82271f6..5c1a143 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -110,12 +110,16 @@ function createError () {
  */
 
 function createHttpErrorConstructor () {
-  function HttpError () {
-    throw new TypeError('cannot construct abstract class')
+  class HttpError extends Error {
+    constructor (status, message) {
+      super(message != null ? message : statuses.message[status] || 'Error')
+      this.status = status != null ? status : 500
+      this.statusCode = this.status
+      this.expose = this.status < 500
+      // Set the name for consistency
+      this.name = 'HttpError'
+    }
   }
-
-  inherits(HttpError, Error)
-
   return HttpError
 }
 
diff --git a/test/test.js b/test/test.js
index 7db9f16..d9e7d6f 100644
--- a/test/test.js
+++ b/test/test.js
@@ -31,6 +31,23 @@ describe('createError(status)', function () {
     assert.ok(isError(createError(500)))
   })
 
+  describe('ES6 class extension (issue #98)', function () {
+    it('should allow extending HttpError with ES6 class', function () {
+      class MyHttpError extends createError.HttpError {
+        constructor (message) {
+          super(418, message)
+          this.custom = true
+        }
+      }
+      const err = new MyHttpError('I am a teapot')
+      assert.strictEqual(err.status, 418)
+      assert.strictEqual(err.message, 'I am a teapot')
+      assert.strictEqual(err.custom, true)
+      assert.ok(err instanceof createError.HttpError)
+      assert.ok(err instanceof Error)
+    })
+  })
+
   describe('Extending Existing Errors with HTTP Properties', function () {
     it('should extend existing error without altering its prototype or replacing the object', function () {
       var nativeError = new Error('This is a test error')
@@ -377,9 +394,13 @@ describe('HTTP Errors', function () {
   })
 
   it('new createError.HttpError()', function () {
-    assert.throws(function () {
-      new createError.HttpError() // eslint-disable-line no-new
-    }, /cannot construct abstract class/)
+    var err = new createError.HttpError(404, 'Not Found')
+    assert.strictEqual(err.name, 'HttpError')
+    assert.strictEqual(err.message, 'Not Found')
+    assert.strictEqual(err.status, 404)
+    assert.strictEqual(err.statusCode, 404)
+    assert.strictEqual(err.expose, true)
+    assert(err.stack)
   })
 
   it('new createError.NotFound()', function () {
diff --git a/test/typings.test.ts b/test/typings.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b38702d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/typings.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+// TypeScript compilation test for http-errors
+import { HttpError } from '../index';
+import * as createError from '../index';
+
+// Test that HttpError can be used as a type
+let err: HttpError = createError(404, 'not found');
+err.status;
+err.expose;
+
+// Test that HttpError can be extended (workaround for abstract class)
+class MyHttpError extends (createError.HttpError as { new(status: number, message: string): HttpError }) {
+  custom: boolean;
+  constructor(message: string) {
+    super(418, message);
+    this.custom = true;
+  }
+}
+const myErr = new MyHttpError('I am a teapot');
+myErr.status;
+myErr.custom;