diff --git a/routing/routing.go b/routing/routing.go
index cb60e5ee8aff2ff8b38f6d9948ef01fed69079da..7f0486c7638ef189cfc822aeea60bd9225fe55c9 100644
--- a/routing/routing.go
+++ b/routing/routing.go
@@ -1,12 +1,17 @@
 package routing
 
 import (
+	"errors"
+
 	context "github.com/jbenet/go-ipfs/Godeps/_workspace/src/code.google.com/p/go.net/context"
 
 	peer "github.com/jbenet/go-ipfs/peer"
 	u "github.com/jbenet/go-ipfs/util"
 )
 
+// ErrNotFound is returned when a search fails to find anything
+var ErrNotFound = errors.New("routing: key not found")
+
 // IpfsRouting is the routing module interface
 // It is implemented by things like DHTs, etc.
 type IpfsRouting interface {