diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 80848649d..a7c7912ce 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ else
 endif
 
 # expose these flags to R CMD SHLIB
-export PKG_CPPFLAGS = $(CFLAGS)
+export PKG_CPPFLAGS = $(CFLAGS) -DXGBOOST_CUSTOMIZE_ERROR_
 
 # specify tensor path
 BIN = xgboost
diff --git a/src/utils/utils.h b/src/utils/utils.h
index baaac5de2..085725486 100644
--- a/src/utils/utils.h
+++ b/src/utils/utils.h
@@ -11,14 +11,10 @@
 #include <cstdlib>
 #ifdef _MSC_VER
 #define fopen64 fopen
-// temporal solution for MSVC
-inline int snprintf(char *ptr, size_t sz, const char *fmt, ...) {
-  va_list args;
-  va_start(args, fmt);
-  int ret = vsprintf(ptr, fmt, args);
-  va_end(args);
-  return ret;
-}
+// NOTE: sprintf_s is not equivalent to snprintf, 
+// they are equivalent when success, which is sufficient for our case
+#define snprintf sprintf_s
+#define vsnprintf vsprintf_s
 #else
 #ifdef _FILE_OFFSET_BITS
 #if _FILE_OFFSET_BITS == 32
@@ -50,41 +46,65 @@ typedef long int64_t;
 namespace xgboost {
 /*! \brief namespace for helper utils of the project */
 namespace utils {
+/*! \brief error message buffer length */
+const int kErrorBuffer = 1 << 12;
+
+#ifndef XGBOOST_CUSTOMIZE_ERROR_
+/*! 
+ * \brief handling of Assert error, caused by in-apropriate input
+ * \param msg error message 
+ */
+inline void HandleAssertError(const char *msg) {
+  fprintf(stderr, "AssertError:%s\n", msg);
+  exit(-1);
+}
+/*! 
+ * \brief handling of Check error, caused by in-apropriate input
+ * \param msg error message 
+ */
+inline void HandleCheckError(const char *msg) {
+  fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", msg);
+  exit(-1);
+}
+#else
+// include declarations, some one must implement this
+void HandleAssertError(const char *msg);
+void HandleCheckError(const char *msg);
+#endif
 
 /*! \brief assert an condition is true, use this to handle debug information */
 inline void Assert(bool exp, const char *fmt, ...) {
   if (!exp) {
+    std::string msg(kErrorBuffer, '\0');
     va_list args;
     va_start(args, fmt);
-    fprintf(stderr, "AssertError:");
-    vfprintf(stderr, fmt, args);
+    vsnprintf(&msg[0], kErrorBuffer, fmt, args);
     va_end(args);
-    fprintf(stderr, "\n");
-    exit(-1);
+    HandleAssertError(msg.c_str());
   }
 }
 
 /*!\brief same as assert, but this is intended to be used as message for user*/
 inline void Check(bool exp, const char *fmt, ...) {
   if (!exp) {
+    std::string msg(kErrorBuffer, '\0');
     va_list args;
     va_start(args, fmt);
-    vfprintf(stderr, fmt, args);
+    vsnprintf(&msg[0], kErrorBuffer, fmt, args);
     va_end(args);
-    fprintf(stderr, "\n");
-    exit(-1);
+    HandleCheckError(msg.c_str());
   }
 }
 
 /*! \brief report error message, same as check */
 inline void Error(const char *fmt, ...) {
   {
+    std::string msg(kErrorBuffer, '\0');
     va_list args;
     va_start(args, fmt);
-    vfprintf(stderr, fmt, args);
+    vsnprintf(&msg[0], kErrorBuffer, fmt, args);
     va_end(args);
-    fprintf(stderr, "\n");
-    exit(-1);
+    HandleCheckError(msg.c_str());
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/wrapper/xgboost_R.cpp b/wrapper/xgboost_R.cpp
index 6f342a208..65085c885 100644
--- a/wrapper/xgboost_R.cpp
+++ b/wrapper/xgboost_R.cpp
@@ -2,13 +2,24 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <utility>
 #include <cstring>
-#include "xgboost_wrapper.h"
 #include "xgboost_R.h"
+#include "xgboost_wrapper.h"
 #include "../src/utils/utils.h"
 #include "../src/utils/omp.h"
 #include "../src/utils/matrix_csr.h"
 
 using namespace xgboost;
+// implements error handling
+namespace xgboost {
+namespace utils {
+void HandleAssertError(const char *msg) {
+  error("%s", msg);
+}
+void HandleCheckError(const char *msg) {
+  error("%s", msg);
+}
+}  // namespace utils
+}  // namespace xgboost
 
 extern "C" {
   void _DMatrixFinalizer(SEXP ext) {