diff --git a/src/sql/kernel/qsqlerror.cpp b/src/sql/kernel/qsqlerror.cpp
index a2ae453756..1763722e8a 100644
--- a/src/sql/kernel/qsqlerror.cpp
+++ b/src/sql/kernel/qsqlerror.cpp
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ QT_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
 #ifndef QT_NO_DEBUG_STREAM
 QDebug operator<<(QDebug dbg, const QSqlError &s)
 {
-    dbg.nospace() << "QSqlError(" << s.number() << ", " << s.driverText() <<
+    dbg.nospace() << "QSqlError(" << s.nativeErrorCode() << ", " << s.driverText() <<
                      ", " << s.databaseText() << ')';
     return dbg.space();
 }
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ public:
     QString driverError;
     QString databaseError;
     QSqlError::ErrorType errorType;
-    int errorNumber;
+    QString errorCode;
 };
 
 
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ public:
 
     A QSqlError object can provide database-specific error data,
     including the driverText() and databaseText() messages (or both
-    concatenated together as text()), and the error number() and
+    concatenated together as text()), and the nativeErrorCode() and
     type().
 
     \sa QSqlDatabase::lastError(), QSqlQuery::lastError()
@@ -91,11 +91,14 @@ public:
 */
 
 /*!
+    \obsolete
+
     Constructs an error containing the driver error text \a
     driverText, the database-specific error text \a databaseText, the
     type \a type and the optional error number \a number.
 */
 
+#if QT_DEPRECATED_SINCE(5, 3)
 QSqlError::QSqlError(const QString& driverText, const QString& databaseText, ErrorType type,
                     int number)
 {
@@ -104,8 +107,27 @@ QSqlError::QSqlError(const QString& driverText, const QString& databaseText, Err
     d->driverError = driverText;
     d->databaseError = databaseText;
     d->errorType = type;
-    d->errorNumber = number;
+    d->errorCode = QString::number(number);
 }
+#endif
+
+/*!
+    Constructs an error containing the driver error text \a
+    driverText, the database-specific error text \a databaseText, the
+    type \a type and the error code \a code.
+*/
+
+QSqlError::QSqlError(const QString &driverText, const QString &databaseText,
+                     ErrorType type, const QString &code)
+{
+    d = new QSqlErrorPrivate;
+
+    d->driverError = driverText;
+    d->databaseError = databaseText;
+    d->errorType = type;
+    d->errorCode = code;
+}
+
 
 /*!
     Creates a copy of \a other.
@@ -246,14 +268,28 @@ void QSqlError::setType(ErrorType type)
 #endif
 
 /*!
+    \fn int QSqlError::number() const
+    \obsolete
+
     Returns the database-specific error number, or -1 if it cannot be
     determined.
+
+    Returns 0 if the error code is not an integer.
+
+    \warning Some databases use alphanumeric error codes, which makes
+             number() unreliable if such a database is used.
+
+    Use nativeErrorCode() instead
+
+    \sa nativeErrorCode()
 */
 
+#if QT_DEPRECATED_SINCE(5, 3)
 int QSqlError::number() const
 {
-    return d->errorNumber;
+    return d->errorCode.toInt();
 }
+#endif
 
 /*!
     \fn void QSqlError::setNumber(int number)
@@ -270,10 +306,20 @@ int QSqlError::number() const
 #if QT_DEPRECATED_SINCE(5, 1)
 void QSqlError::setNumber(int number)
 {
-    d->errorNumber = number;
+    d->errorCode = QString::number(number);
 }
 #endif
 
+/*!
+    Returns the database-specific error code, or an empty string if
+    it cannot be determined.
+*/
+
+QString QSqlError::nativeErrorCode() const
+{
+    return d->errorCode;
+}
+
 /*!
     This is a convenience function that returns databaseText() and
     driverText() concatenated into a single string.
diff --git a/src/sql/kernel/qsqlerror.h b/src/sql/kernel/qsqlerror.h
index 0efe0e07b0..c2afe7c819 100644
--- a/src/sql/kernel/qsqlerror.h
+++ b/src/sql/kernel/qsqlerror.h
@@ -59,10 +59,16 @@ public:
         TransactionError,
         UnknownError
     };
+#if QT_DEPRECATED_SINCE(5, 3)
     QSqlError( const QString& driverText = QString(),
                 const QString& databaseText = QString(),
                 ErrorType type = NoError,
                 int number = -1);
+#endif
+    QSqlError(const QString &driverText,
+              const QString &databaseText,
+              ErrorType type,
+              const QString &errorCode);
     QSqlError(const QSqlError& other);
     QSqlError& operator=(const QSqlError& other);
     bool operator==(const QSqlError& other) const;
@@ -72,7 +78,10 @@ public:
     QString driverText() const;
     QString databaseText() const;
     ErrorType type() const;
+#if QT_DEPRECATED_SINCE(5, 3)
     int number() const;
+#endif
+    QString nativeErrorCode() const;
     QString text() const;
     bool isValid() const;
 
diff --git a/tests/auto/sql/kernel/qsqldatabase/tst_databases.h b/tests/auto/sql/kernel/qsqldatabase/tst_databases.h
index 69ecbcb019..59a16bc569 100644
--- a/tests/auto/sql/kernel/qsqldatabase/tst_databases.h
+++ b/tests/auto/sql/kernel/qsqldatabase/tst_databases.h
@@ -515,8 +515,8 @@ public:
     static QByteArray printError( const QSqlError& err )
     {
         QString result;
-        if(err.number() > 0)
-            result += '(' + QString::number(err.number()) + ") ";
+        if (!err.nativeErrorCode().isEmpty())
+            result += '(' + err.nativeErrorCode() + ") ";
         result += '\'';
         if(!err.driverText().isEmpty())
             result += err.driverText() + "' || '";
@@ -527,8 +527,8 @@ public:
     static QByteArray printError( const QSqlError& err, const QSqlDatabase& db )
     {
         QString result(dbToString(db) + ": ");
-        if(err.number() > 0)
-            result += '(' + QString::number(err.number()) + ") ";
+        if (!err.nativeErrorCode().isEmpty())
+            result += '(' + err.nativeErrorCode() + ") ";
         result += '\'';
         if(!err.driverText().isEmpty())
             result += err.driverText() + "' || '";
diff --git a/tests/auto/sql/kernel/qsqlerror/tst_qsqlerror.cpp b/tests/auto/sql/kernel/qsqlerror/tst_qsqlerror.cpp
index bee4441c0f..9763e3e7e6 100644
--- a/tests/auto/sql/kernel/qsqlerror/tst_qsqlerror.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/sql/kernel/qsqlerror/tst_qsqlerror.cpp
@@ -120,6 +120,24 @@ void tst_QSqlError::construction()
 
    QSqlError obj4;
    QVERIFY(!obj4.isValid());
+
+   QSqlError obj5(QStringLiteral("drivertext"), QStringLiteral("databasetext"),
+                  QSqlError::UnknownError, QStringLiteral("123"));
+   QCOMPARE(obj5.driverText(), QString("drivertext"));
+   QCOMPARE(obj5.databaseText(), QString("databasetext"));
+   QCOMPARE(obj5.type(), QSqlError::UnknownError);
+   QCOMPARE(obj5.number(), 123);
+   QCOMPARE(obj5.nativeErrorCode(), QStringLiteral("123"));
+   QVERIFY(obj5.isValid());
+
+   QSqlError obj6(QStringLiteral("drivertext"), QStringLiteral("databasetext"),
+                  QSqlError::UnknownError, QStringLiteral("Err123"));
+   QCOMPARE(obj6.driverText(), QString("drivertext"));
+   QCOMPARE(obj6.databaseText(), QString("databasetext"));
+   QCOMPARE(obj6.type(), QSqlError::UnknownError);
+   QCOMPARE(obj6.number(), 0);
+   QCOMPARE(obj6.nativeErrorCode(), QStringLiteral("Err123"));
+   QVERIFY(obj6.isValid());
 }
 
 void tst_QSqlError::operators()