diff --git a/pecan/commands/shell.py b/pecan/commands/shell.py
index 3424103..000b176 100644
--- a/pecan/commands/shell.py
+++ b/pecan/commands/shell.py
@@ -34,8 +34,9 @@ class IPythonShell(object):
             shell = InteractiveShellEmbed(banner2=banner)
             shell(local_ns=ns)
         except ImportError:
+            # Support for the IPython <= 0.10 shell API
             from IPython.Shell import IPShellEmbed
-            shell = IPShellEmbed(argv=self.args)
+            shell = IPShellEmbed(argv=[])
             shell.set_banner(shell.IP.BANNER + '\n\n' + banner)
             shell(local_ns=ns, global_ns={})
 
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ class ShellCommand(BaseCommand):
     SHELLS = {
         'python': NativePythonShell,
         'ipython': IPythonShell
-    }    
+    }
 
     arguments = BaseCommand.arguments + ({
         'command': ['--shell', '-s'],
diff --git a/pecan/middleware/errordocument.py b/pecan/middleware/errordocument.py
index 8961968..0c374ae 100644
--- a/pecan/middleware/errordocument.py
+++ b/pecan/middleware/errordocument.py
@@ -1,6 +1,40 @@
+import sys
 from recursive import ForwardRequestException
 
 
+class StatusPersist(object):
+
+    def __init__(self, app, status, url):
+        self.app = app
+        self.status = status
+        self.url = url
+
+    def __call__(self, environ, start_response):
+        def keep_status_start_response(status, headers, exc_info=None):
+            return start_response(self.status, headers, exc_info)
+        parts = self.url.split('?')
+        environ['PATH_INFO'] = parts[0]
+        if len(parts) > 1:
+            environ['QUERY_STRING'] = parts[1]
+        else:
+            environ['QUERY_STRING'] = ''
+
+        try:
+            return self.app(environ, keep_status_start_response)
+        except RecursionLoop, e:
+            environ['wsgi.errors'].write(
+                'Recursion error getting error page: %s\n' % e
+            )
+            keep_status_start_response(
+                '500 Server Error',
+                [('Content-type', 'text/plain')],
+                sys.exc_info()
+            )
+            return [
+                'Error: %s.  (Error page could not be fetched)' % self.status
+            ]
+
+
 class ErrorDocumentMiddleware(object):
 
     def __init__(self, app, error_map):
@@ -12,14 +46,20 @@ class ErrorDocumentMiddleware(object):
         def replacement_start_response(status, headers, exc_info=None):
             try:
                 status_code = status.split(' ')[0]
-            except ValueError, TypeError:
+            except (ValueError, TypeError):
                 raise Exception((
                     'ErrorDocumentMiddleware received an invalid '
                     'status %s' % status
                 ))
 
             if status_code in self.error_map:
-                raise ForwardRequestException(self.error_map[status_code])
+                def factory(app):
+                    return StatusPersist(
+                        app,
+                        status,
+                        self.error_map[status_code]
+                    )
+                raise ForwardRequestException(factory=factory)
 
             return start_response(status, headers, exc_info)
 
diff --git a/pecan/tests/test_base.py b/pecan/tests/test_base.py
index 54ffd27..d02f57f 100644
--- a/pecan/tests/test_base.py
+++ b/pecan/tests/test_base.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from pecan.middleware.logger import TransLogger
 from webtest import TestApp
 
 if sys.version_info < (2, 7):
-    import unittest2 as unittest # pragma: nocover
+    import unittest2 as unittest  # pragma: nocover
 else:
     import unittest  # pragma: nocover
 
diff --git a/pecan/tests/test_hooks.py b/pecan/tests/test_hooks.py
index a7d7025..458e40b 100644
--- a/pecan/tests/test_hooks.py
+++ b/pecan/tests/test_hooks.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from cStringIO import StringIO
-from pecan import make_app, expose, request, redirect, abort
+from pecan import make_app, expose, redirect, abort
 from pecan.core import state
 from pecan.hooks import (
     PecanHook, TransactionHook, HookController, RequestViewerHook
diff --git a/pecan/util.py b/pecan/util.py
index 697dec8..aa2e683 100644
--- a/pecan/util.py
+++ b/pecan/util.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import sys
-import os
 
 
 def iscontroller(obj):