diff --git a/examples/with_winit/Cargo.toml b/examples/with_winit/Cargo.toml
index 3303388..24c157e 100644
--- a/examples/with_winit/Cargo.toml
+++ b/examples/with_winit/Cargo.toml
@@ -45,4 +45,4 @@ android_logger = "0.13.0"
 console_error_panic_hook = "0.1.7"
 console_log = "0.2"
 wasm-bindgen-futures = "0.4.33"
-web-sys = "0.3.60"
+web-sys = { version = "0.3.60", features = [ "HtmlCollection", "Text" ] }
diff --git a/examples/with_winit/src/lib.rs b/examples/with_winit/src/lib.rs
index e08add2..3d6422d 100644
--- a/examples/with_winit/src/lib.rs
+++ b/examples/with_winit/src/lib.rs
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ fn run(
                 let size = window.inner_size();
                 let surface_future = render_cx.create_surface(&window, size.width, size.height);
                 // We need to block here, in case a Suspended event appeared
-                let surface = pollster::block_on(surface_future);
+                let surface = pollster::block_on(surface_future).expect("Error creating surface");
                 render_state = {
                     let render_state = RenderState { window, surface };
                     renderers.resize_with(render_cx.devices.len(), || None);
@@ -453,6 +453,23 @@ enum UserEvent {
     HotReload,
 }
 
+#[cfg(target_arch = "wasm32")]
+fn display_error_message() -> Option<()> {
+    let window = web_sys::window()?;
+    let document = window.document()?;
+    let elements = document.get_elements_by_tag_name("body");
+    let body = elements.item(0)?;
+    let canvas = body.first_child()?;
+    // TODO: style the notice at least a little, maybe link?
+    let text = document.create_text_node(
+        "WebGPU is not enabled. Make sure your browser is updated to
+        Chrome M113 or another browser compatible with WebGPU.",
+    );
+    let _ = body.insert_before(&text, Some(&canvas));
+    web_sys::console::log_1(&"got body".into());
+    Some(())
+}
+
 pub fn main() -> Result<()> {
     // TODO: initializing both env_logger and console_logger fails on wasm.
     // Figure out a more principled approach.
@@ -496,9 +513,13 @@ pub fn main() -> Result<()> {
                 let surface = render_cx
                     .create_surface(&window, size.width, size.height)
                     .await;
-                let render_state = RenderState { window, surface };
-                // No error handling here; if the event loop has finished, we don't need to send them the surface
-                run(event_loop, args, scenes, render_cx, render_state);
+                if let Ok(surface) = surface {
+                    let render_state = RenderState { window, surface };
+                    // No error handling here; if the event loop has finished, we don't need to send them the surface
+                    run(event_loop, args, scenes, render_cx, render_state);
+                } else {
+                    _ = display_error_message();
+                }
             });
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/util.rs b/src/util.rs
index 87e2d35..add0ea2 100644
--- a/src/util.rs
+++ b/src/util.rs
@@ -50,12 +50,20 @@ impl RenderContext {
     }
 
     /// Creates a new surface for the specified window and dimensions.
-    pub async fn create_surface<W>(&mut self, window: &W, width: u32, height: u32) -> RenderSurface
+    pub async fn create_surface<W>(
+        &mut self,
+        window: &W,
+        width: u32,
+        height: u32,
+    ) -> Result<RenderSurface>
     where
         W: HasRawWindowHandle + HasRawDisplayHandle,
     {
-        let surface = unsafe { self.instance.create_surface(window) }.unwrap();
-        let dev_id = self.device(Some(&surface)).await.unwrap();
+        let surface = unsafe { self.instance.create_surface(window) }?;
+        let dev_id = self
+            .device(Some(&surface))
+            .await
+            .ok_or("Error creating device")?;
 
         let device_handle = &self.devices[dev_id];
         let capabilities = surface.get_capabilities(&device_handle.adapter);
@@ -75,12 +83,12 @@ impl RenderContext {
             view_formats: vec![],
         };
         surface.configure(&self.devices[dev_id].device, &config);
-        RenderSurface {
+        Ok(RenderSurface {
             surface,
             config,
             dev_id,
             format,
-        }
+        })
     }
 
     /// Resizes the surface to the new dimensions.