diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5d8e0139f64..559725aa7e7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 1. [12791](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/pull/12791): Use time range for metaqueries in Data Explorer and Cell Editor Overlay
 1. [12827](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/pull/12827): Fix screen tearing bug in Raw Data View
 1. [12843](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/pull/12843): Add copy to clipboard button to export overlays
+1. [12826](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb/pull/12826): Enable copying error messages to the clipboard from dashboard cells
 
 ### Bug Fixes
 
diff --git a/ui/src/shared/components/EmptyGraphError.scss b/ui/src/shared/components/EmptyGraphError.scss
index 55f90280ba4..0c9ab94d57c 100644
--- a/ui/src/shared/components/EmptyGraphError.scss
+++ b/ui/src/shared/components/EmptyGraphError.scss
@@ -23,4 +23,9 @@
   top: $ix-marg-b;
   right: $ix-marg-b;
   opacity: 0.9;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+  display: none;
+
+  .empty-graph-error:hover & {
+    display: inherit;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/ui/src/shared/components/TimeSeries.tsx b/ui/src/shared/components/TimeSeries.tsx
index f7774a45485..b444d65fb14 100644
--- a/ui/src/shared/components/TimeSeries.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/shared/components/TimeSeries.tsx
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {
 // Utils
 import {parseResponse} from 'src/shared/parsing/flux/response'
 import {getActiveOrg} from 'src/organizations/selectors'
+import {checkQueryResult} from 'src/shared/utils/checkQueryResult'
 
 // Types
 import {RemoteDataState, FluxTable} from 'src/types'
@@ -137,6 +138,8 @@ class TimeSeries extends Component<Props, State> {
       const tables = flatten(results.map(r => parseResponse(r.csv)))
       const files = results.map(r => r.csv)
 
+      files.forEach(checkQueryResult)
+
       this.setState({
         tables,
         files,
diff --git a/ui/src/shared/utils/checkQueryResult.test.ts b/ui/src/shared/utils/checkQueryResult.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..445369f489e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/src/shared/utils/checkQueryResult.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import {checkQueryResult} from 'src/shared/utils/checkQueryResult'
+
+describe('checkQueryResult', () => {
+  test('throws an error when the response has an error table', () => {
+    const RESPONSE = `#group,true,true
+#datatype,string,string
+#default,,
+,error,reference
+,"function references unknown column ""_value""",`
+
+    expect(() => {
+      checkQueryResult(RESPONSE)
+    }).toThrow('function references unknown column')
+  })
+
+  test('does not throw an error when the response is valid', () => {
+    const RESPONSE = `#group,false,false,true,true,false,false,true,true,true
+#datatype,string,long,dateTime:RFC3339,dateTime:RFC3339,dateTime:RFC3339,long,string,string,string
+#default,_result,,,,,,,,
+,result,table,_start,_stop,_time,_value,_measurement,host,_field
+,,0,2019-03-21T18:54:14.113478Z,2019-03-21T19:54:14.113478Z,2019-03-21T18:54:21Z,4780101632,mem,oox4k.local,active
+,,0,2019-03-21T18:54:14.113478Z,2019-03-21T19:54:14.113478Z,2019-03-21T18:54:31Z,5095436288,mem,oox4k.local,active`
+
+    expect(() => {
+      checkQueryResult(RESPONSE)
+    }).not.toThrow()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/ui/src/shared/utils/checkQueryResult.ts b/ui/src/shared/utils/checkQueryResult.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d3b5a3152df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/src/shared/utils/checkQueryResult.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/*
+  Given Flux query response as a CSV, check if the CSV contains an error table
+  as the first result. If it does, throw the error message contained within
+  that table. 
+
+  For example, given the following response:
+
+      #datatype,string,long
+      ,error,reference
+      ,Failed to parse query,897
+
+  we want to throw an error with the message "Failed to parse query".
+
+  See https://github.com/influxdata/flux/blob/master/docs/SPEC.md#errors.
+*/
+export const checkQueryResult = (file: string): void => {
+  // Don't check the whole file, since it could be huge and the error table
+  // will be within the first few lines (if it exists)
+  const fileHead = file.slice(0, findNthIndex(file, '\n', 6))
+
+  const lines = fileHead.split('\n').filter(line => !line.startsWith('#'))
+
+  if (!lines.length || !lines[0].includes('error') || !lines[1]) {
+    return
+  }
+
+  const header = lines[0].split(',').map(s => s.trim())
+  const row = lines[1].split(',').map(s => s.trim())
+  const index = header.indexOf('error')
+
+  if (index === -1 || !row[index]) {
+    return
+  }
+
+  // Trim off extra quotes at start and end of message
+  const errorMessage = row[index].replace(/^"/, '').replace(/"$/, '')
+
+  throw new Error(errorMessage)
+}
+
+const findNthIndex = (s: string, c: string, n: number) => {
+  let count = 0
+  let i = 0
+
+  while (i < s.length) {
+    if (s[i] == c) {
+      count += 1
+    }
+
+    if (count === n) {
+      return i
+    }
+
+    i += 1
+  }
+}
diff --git a/ui/src/timeMachine/actions/queries.ts b/ui/src/timeMachine/actions/queries.ts
index 557a74cecd6..cd78b4e7a1c 100644
--- a/ui/src/timeMachine/actions/queries.ts
+++ b/ui/src/timeMachine/actions/queries.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import {getActiveOrg} from 'src/organizations/selectors'
 import {getVariableAssignments} from 'src/variables/selectors'
 import {getTimeRangeVars} from 'src/variables/utils/getTimeRangeVars'
 import {filterUnusedVars} from 'src/shared/utils/filterUnusedVars'
+import {checkQueryResult} from 'src/shared/utils/checkQueryResult'
 import {
   getVariablesForOrg,
   getVariable,
@@ -113,9 +114,10 @@ export const executeQueries = () => async (dispatch, getState: GetState) => {
     const results = await Promise.all(pendingResults.map(r => r.promise))
 
     const duration = Date.now() - startTime
-
     const files = results.map(r => r.csv)
 
+    files.forEach(checkQueryResult)
+
     dispatch(setQueryResults(RemoteDataState.Done, files, duration))
   } catch (e) {
     if (e instanceof CancellationError) {