diff --git a/dial.go b/dial.go
index 371a7d8e..92820ed6 100644
--- a/dial.go
+++ b/dial.go
@@ -114,6 +114,12 @@ func (opts *DialOptions) cloneWithDefaults(ctx context.Context) (context.Context
 // connection. For any other status, resp.Body holds at most the first
 // 1024 bytes of the body.
 //
+// The error matches ErrBadStatus when the final response that
+// DialOptions.HTTPClient returns has a status other than 101 Switching
+// Protocols, and resp is then non nil. If HTTPClient.CheckRedirect returns
+// an error other than http.ErrUseLastResponse, the error does not match
+// ErrBadStatus and resp is nil.
+//
 // This function requires at least Go 1.12 as it uses a new feature
 // in net/http to perform WebSocket handshakes.
 // See docs on the HTTPClient option and https://github.com/golang/go/issues/26937#issuecomment-415855861
@@ -252,7 +258,7 @@ func secWebSocketKey(rr io.Reader) (string, error) {
 
 func verifyServerResponse(opts *DialOptions, copts *compressionOptions, secWebSocketKey string, resp *http.Response) (*compressionOptions, error) {
 	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusSwitchingProtocols {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("expected handshake response status code %v but got %v", http.StatusSwitchingProtocols, resp.StatusCode)
+		return nil, badStatusError{statusCode: resp.StatusCode}
 	}
 
 	if !headerContainsTokenIgnoreCase(resp.Header, "Connection", "Upgrade") {
@@ -278,6 +284,21 @@ func verifyServerResponse(opts *DialOptions, copts *compressionOptions, secWebSo
 	return verifyServerExtensions(copts, resp.Header)
 }
 
+// badStatusError keeps the Dial error text unchanged, because callers match
+// on that text. It matches ErrBadStatus through Is instead of Unwrap, so code
+// that unwraps to the innermost error still gets that text.
+type badStatusError struct {
+	statusCode int
+}
+
+func (e badStatusError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("expected handshake response status code %v but got %v", http.StatusSwitchingProtocols, e.statusCode)
+}
+
+func (badStatusError) Is(target error) bool {
+	return target == ErrBadStatus
+}
+
 func verifySubprotocol(subprotos []string, resp *http.Response) error {
 	proto := resp.Header.Get("Sec-WebSocket-Protocol")
 	if proto == "" {
diff --git a/dial_test.go b/dial_test.go
index 2d1c94d4..11b88ab8 100644
--- a/dial_test.go
+++ b/dial_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"crypto/rand"
+	"errors"
 	"io"
 	"maps"
 	"net/http"
@@ -120,6 +121,107 @@ func TestBadDials(t *testing.T) {
 			HTTPClient: mockHTTPClient(rt),
 		})
 		assert.Contains(t, err, "response body is not a io.ReadWriteCloser")
+		assert.Equal(t, "errors.Is(err, ErrBadStatus)", false, errors.Is(err, websocket.ErrBadStatus))
+	})
+}
+
+func TestDialErrBadStatus(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	t.Run("nonSwitchingStatus", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		body := strings.Repeat("a", 1024) + "b"
+		s := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusForbidden)
+			io.WriteString(w, body)
+		}))
+		defer s.Close()
+
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Second*5)
+		defer cancel()
+
+		_, resp, err := websocket.Dial(ctx, s.URL, nil)
+		assert.Error(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, "error", "failed to WebSocket dial: expected handshake response status code 101 but got 403", err.Error())
+		assert.ErrorIs(t, websocket.ErrBadStatus, err)
+		// Code that unwraps to the innermost error must still get the status text.
+		inner := err
+		for e := errors.Unwrap(inner); e != nil; e = errors.Unwrap(inner) {
+			inner = e
+		}
+		assert.Equal(t, "innermost error", "expected handshake response status code 101 but got 403", inner.Error())
+		if resp == nil {
+			t.Fatal("expected non-nil response")
+		}
+		assert.Equal(t, "status code", http.StatusForbidden, resp.StatusCode)
+		b, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+		assert.Success(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, "body", body[:1024], string(b))
+	})
+
+	t.Run("networkError", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Second*5)
+		defer cancel()
+
+		_, resp, err := websocket.Dial(ctx, "ws://example.com", &websocket.DialOptions{
+			HTTPClient: mockHTTPClient(func(*http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
+				return nil, errors.New("connection refused")
+			}),
+		})
+		assert.Error(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, "errors.Is(err, ErrBadStatus)", false, errors.Is(err, websocket.ErrBadStatus))
+		if resp != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("expected nil response, got status %d", resp.StatusCode)
+		}
+	})
+
+	redirectClient := func(checkRedirect error) *http.Client {
+		hc := mockHTTPClient(func(*http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
+			return &http.Response{
+				StatusCode: http.StatusFound,
+				Header:     http.Header{"Location": {"wss://example.com/login"}},
+			}, nil
+		})
+		hc.CheckRedirect = func(*http.Request, []*http.Request) error {
+			return checkRedirect
+		}
+		return hc
+	}
+
+	t.Run("redirectRefused", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Second*5)
+		defer cancel()
+
+		errRefused := errors.New("redirect refused")
+		_, resp, err := websocket.Dial(ctx, "ws://example.com", &websocket.DialOptions{
+			HTTPClient: redirectClient(errRefused),
+		})
+		assert.ErrorIs(t, errRefused, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, "errors.Is(err, ErrBadStatus)", false, errors.Is(err, websocket.ErrBadStatus))
+		if resp != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("expected nil response, got status %d", resp.StatusCode)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("redirectUseLastResponse", func(t *testing.T) {
+		t.Parallel()
+
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Second*5)
+		defer cancel()
+
+		_, resp, err := websocket.Dial(ctx, "ws://example.com", &websocket.DialOptions{
+			HTTPClient: redirectClient(http.ErrUseLastResponse),
+		})
+		assert.ErrorIs(t, websocket.ErrBadStatus, err)
+		if resp == nil {
+			t.Fatal("expected non-nil response")
+		}
+		assert.Equal(t, "status code", http.StatusFound, resp.StatusCode)
 	})
 }
 
@@ -292,6 +394,7 @@ func Test_verifyServerHandshake(t *testing.T) {
 			} else {
 				assert.Error(t, err)
 			}
+			assert.Equal(t, "errors.Is(err, ErrBadStatus)", tc.name == "badStatus", errors.Is(err, websocket.ErrBadStatus))
 		})
 	}
 }
diff --git a/errors.go b/errors.go
index bf4fc2b0..04a0f807 100644
--- a/errors.go
+++ b/errors.go
@@ -4,5 +4,11 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 )
 
+// ErrBadStatus means that the server answered the opening handshake from
+// Dial with a status other than 101 Switching Protocols. Test for it with
+// errors.Is. For backward compatibility, the error from Dial does not
+// unwrap to it, so its innermost error is still the status text.
+var ErrBadStatus = errors.New("websocket: bad status")
+
 // ErrMessageTooBig is returned when a message exceeds the read limit.
 var ErrMessageTooBig = errors.New("websocket: message too big")
diff --git a/ws_js.go b/ws_js.go
index 026b75fc..cadcb15e 100644
--- a/ws_js.go
+++ b/ws_js.go
@@ -286,7 +286,8 @@ type DialOptions struct {
 // Dial creates a new WebSocket connection to the given url with the given options.
 // The passed context bounds the maximum time spent waiting for the connection to open.
 // The returned *http.Response is always nil or a mock. It's only in the signature
-// to match the core API.
+// to match the core API. The error never matches ErrBadStatus, because the
+// browser does not expose the handshake response.
 func Dial(ctx context.Context, url string, opts *DialOptions) (*Conn, *http.Response, error) {
 	c, resp, err := dial(ctx, url, opts)
 	if err != nil {