diff --git a/pyogrio/_err.pxd b/pyogrio/_err.pxd
index c3890613..927e3c9e 100644
--- a/pyogrio/_err.pxd
+++ b/pyogrio/_err.pxd
@@ -5,5 +5,5 @@ cdef void *check_pointer(void *ptr) except NULL
 
 cdef class ErrorHandler:
     cdef object error_stack
-    cdef int check_int(self, int retval) except -1
-    cdef void *check_pointer(self, void *ptr) except NULL
+    cdef int check_int(self, int retval, bint squash_errors) except -1
+    cdef void *check_pointer(self, void *ptr, bint squash_errors) except NULL
diff --git a/pyogrio/_err.pyx b/pyogrio/_err.pyx
index 96f726e5..d25053f1 100644
--- a/pyogrio/_err.pyx
+++ b/pyogrio/_err.pyx
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ cdef class ErrorHandler:
     def __init__(self, error_stack=None):
         self.error_stack = error_stack or {}
 
-    cdef int check_int(self, int err) except -1:
+    cdef int check_int(self, int err, bint squash_errors) except -1:
         """Check the CPLErr (int) value returned by a GDAL/OGR function.
 
         If `err` is a nonzero value, an exception inheriting from
@@ -313,6 +313,20 @@ cdef class ErrorHandler:
         When a non-fatal GDAL/OGR error was captured in the error stack, the
         exception raised will be customized appropriately. Otherwise, a
         CPLError is raised.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        err : int
+            The CPLErr returned by a GDAL/OGR function.
+        squash_errors : bool
+            True to squash all errors captured to one error with the exception type of
+            the last error and all error messages concatenated.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        int
+            The `err` input parameter if it is zero. Otherwise an exception is raised.
+
         """
         if err:
             stack = self.error_stack.get()
@@ -323,13 +337,24 @@ cdef class ErrorHandler:
             if stack:
                 last = stack.pop()
                 if last is not None:
+                    if squash_errors:
+                        # Concatenate all error messages, and raise a single exception
+                        errmsg = str(last)
+                        inner = last.__cause__
+                        while inner is not None:
+                            errmsg = f"{errmsg}; {inner}"
+                            inner = inner.__cause__
+
+                        raise type(last)(-1, -1, errmsg)
+
                     raise last
+
             else:
                 raise CPLError(CE_Failure, err, "Unspecified OGR / GDAL error")
 
         return err
 
-    cdef void *check_pointer(self, void *ptr) except NULL:
+    cdef void *check_pointer(self, void *ptr, bint squash_errors) except NULL:
         """Check the pointer returned by a GDAL/OGR function.
 
         If `ptr` is `NULL`, an exception inheriting from CPLE_BaseError is
@@ -337,6 +362,21 @@ cdef class ErrorHandler:
         When a non-fatal GDAL/OGR error was captured in the error stack, the
         exception raised will be customized appropriately. Otherwise, a
         NullPointerError is raised.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        ptr : pointer
+            The pointer returned by a GDAL/OGR function.
+        squash_errors : bool
+            True to squash all errors captured to one error with the exception type of
+            the last error and all error messages concatenated.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        pointer
+            The `ptr` input parameter if it is not `NULL`. Otherwise an exception is
+            raised.
+
         """
         if ptr == NULL:
             stack = self.error_stack.get()
@@ -347,7 +387,18 @@ cdef class ErrorHandler:
             if stack:
                 last = stack.pop()
                 if last is not None:
+                    if squash_errors:
+                        # Concatenate all error messages, and raise a single exception
+                        errmsg = str(last)
+                        inner = last.__cause__
+                        while inner is not None:
+                            errmsg = f"{errmsg}; {inner}"
+                            inner = inner.__cause__
+
+                        raise type(last)(-1, -1, errmsg)
+
                     raise last
+
             else:
                 raise NullPointerError(-1, -1, "NULL pointer error")
 
diff --git a/pyogrio/_io.pyx b/pyogrio/_io.pyx
index c08eafe6..b71cd129 100644
--- a/pyogrio/_io.pyx
+++ b/pyogrio/_io.pyx
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ cdef void* ogr_open(const char* path_c, int mode, char** options) except NULL:
         # instead of raising an error
         with capture_errors() as errors:
             ogr_dataset = GDALOpenEx(path_c, flags, NULL, <const char *const *>options, NULL)
-            return errors.check_pointer(ogr_dataset)
+            return errors.check_pointer(ogr_dataset, True)
 
     except NullPointerError:
         raise DataSourceError(
@@ -218,20 +218,13 @@ cdef void* ogr_open(const char* path_c, int mode, char** options) except NULL:
         ) from None
 
     except CPLE_BaseError as exc:
-        # If there are inner exceptions, append their errmsg to the errmsg
-        errmsg = str(exc)
-        inner = exc.__cause__
-        while inner is not None:
-            errmsg = f"{errmsg}; {inner}"
-            inner = inner.__cause__
-
-        if exc.errmsg.endswith("a supported file format."):
+        if " not recognized as a supported file format." in exc.errmsg:
             raise DataSourceError(
-                f"{errmsg}; It might help to specify the correct driver explicitly by "
+                f"{exc.errmsg}; It might help to specify the correct driver explicitly by "
                 "prefixing the file path with '<DRIVER>:', e.g. 'CSV:path'."
             ) from None
 
-        raise DataSourceError(errmsg) from None
+        raise DataSourceError(exc.errmsg) from None
 
 
 cdef ogr_close(GDALDatasetH ogr_dataset):