diff --git a/include/libssh2.h b/include/libssh2.h
index 75c563ed..cf7cae1e 100644
--- a/include/libssh2.h
+++ b/include/libssh2.h
@@ -503,6 +503,7 @@ typedef struct _LIBSSH2_POLLFD {
 #define LIBSSH2_ERROR_KNOWN_HOSTS               -46
 #define LIBSSH2_ERROR_CHANNEL_WINDOW_FULL       -47
 #define LIBSSH2_ERROR_KEYFILE_AUTH_FAILED       -48
+#define LIBSSH2_ERROR_MISSING_AUTH_BANNER       -49
 
 /* this is a define to provide the old (<= 1.2.7) name */
 #define LIBSSH2_ERROR_BANNER_NONE LIBSSH2_ERROR_BANNER_RECV
@@ -611,8 +612,8 @@ LIBSSH2_API const char *libssh2_session_banner_get(LIBSSH2_SESSION *session);
 LIBSSH2_API char *libssh2_userauth_list(LIBSSH2_SESSION *session,
                                         const char *username,
                                         unsigned int username_len);
-LIBSSH2_API char *libssh2_userauth_banner(LIBSSH2_SESSION * session,
-                                          size_t *banner_len_out);
+LIBSSH2_API int libssh2_userauth_banner(LIBSSH2_SESSION* session,
+                                        char **banner_out);
 LIBSSH2_API int libssh2_userauth_authenticated(LIBSSH2_SESSION *session);
 
 LIBSSH2_API int
diff --git a/src/userauth.c b/src/userauth.c
index 1e37b9a0..39896607 100644
--- a/src/userauth.c
+++ b/src/userauth.c
@@ -237,24 +237,25 @@ libssh2_userauth_list(LIBSSH2_SESSION * session, const char *user,
  *
  * Retrieve banner message from server, if available.
  * If no such message is sent by the server or if no authentication attempt has
- * been made, this function returns NULL.
+ * been made, this function returns LIBSSH2_ERROR_MISSING_AUTH_BANNER.
  * libssh2_userauth_list makes a "none" authentication attempt and is
  * sufficient to collect the pre-auth banner message.
  *
  * Banner ought to be UTF-8 encoded, and will be truncated to
- * LIBSSH2_USERAUTH_MAX_BANNER bytes. Length will be returned in
- * banner_len_out.
+ * LIBSSH2_USERAUTH_MAX_BANNER bytes.
  */
-LIBSSH2_API char *
-libssh2_userauth_banner(LIBSSH2_SESSION * session,
-                       size_t *banner_len_out)
+LIBSSH2_API int
+libssh2_userauth_banner(LIBSSH2_SESSION* session,
+                        char **banner_out)
 {
-    char *ptr = NULL;
-    if(session->userauth_banner) {
-        ptr = session->userauth_banner;
-        *banner_len_out = session->userauth_banner_len;
+    if(!session->userauth_banner) {
+        return _libssh2_error(session,
+                              LIBSSH2_ERROR_MISSING_AUTH_BANNER,
+                              "Missing authentication banner");
     }
-    return ptr;
+
+    *banner_out = session->userauth_banner;
+    return LIBSSH2_ERROR_NONE;
 }
 
 /*