diff --git a/src/vs/base/common/event.ts b/src/vs/base/common/event.ts
index e468ba9b780..7cefcdcedbd 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/common/event.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/common/event.ts
@@ -835,6 +835,7 @@ class LeakageMonitor {
 	private _warnCountdown: number = 0;
 
 	constructor(
+		private readonly _errorHandler: (err: Error) => void,
 		readonly threshold: number,
 		readonly name: string = Math.random().toString(18).slice(2, 5),
 	) { }
@@ -862,18 +863,13 @@ class LeakageMonitor {
 			// is exceeded by 50% again
 			this._warnCountdown = threshold * 0.5;
 
-			// find most frequent listener and print warning
-			let topStack: string | undefined;
-			let topCount: number = 0;
-			for (const [stack, count] of this._stacks) {
-				if (!topStack || topCount < count) {
-					topStack = stack;
-					topCount = count;
-				}
-			}
-
-			console.warn(`[${this.name}] potential listener LEAK detected, having ${listenerCount} listeners already. MOST frequent listener (${topCount}):`);
+			const [topStack, topCount] = this.getMostFrequentStack()!;
+			const message = `[${this.name}] potential listener LEAK detected, having ${listenerCount} listeners already. MOST frequent listener (${topCount}):`;
+			console.warn(message);
 			console.warn(topStack!);
+
+			const error = new ListenerLeakError(message, topStack);
+			this._errorHandler(error);
 		}
 
 		return () => {
@@ -881,12 +877,28 @@ class LeakageMonitor {
 			this._stacks!.set(stack.value, count - 1);
 		};
 	}
+
+	getMostFrequentStack(): [string, number] | undefined {
+		if (!this._stacks) {
+			return undefined;
+		}
+		let topStack: [string, number] | undefined;
+		let topCount: number = 0;
+		for (const [stack, count] of this._stacks) {
+			if (!topStack || topCount < count) {
+				topStack = [stack, count];
+				topCount = count;
+			}
+		}
+		return topStack;
+	}
 }
 
 class Stacktrace {
 
 	static create() {
-		return new Stacktrace(new Error().stack ?? '');
+		const err = new Error();
+		return new Stacktrace(err.stack ?? '');
 	}
 
 	private constructor(readonly value: string) { }
@@ -896,6 +908,25 @@ class Stacktrace {
 	}
 }
 
+// error that is logged when going over the configured listener threshold
+export class ListenerLeakError extends Error {
+	constructor(message: string, stack: string) {
+		super(message);
+		this.name = 'ListenerLeakError';
+		this.stack = stack;
+	}
+}
+
+// SEVERE error that is logged when having gone way over the configured listener
+// threshold so that the emitter refuses to accept more listeners
+export class ListenerRefusalError extends Error {
+	constructor(message: string, stack: string) {
+		super(message);
+		this.name = 'ListenerRefusalError';
+		this.stack = stack;
+	}
+}
+
 let id = 0;
 class UniqueContainer<T> {
 	stack?: Stacktrace;
@@ -988,7 +1019,9 @@ export class Emitter<T> {
 
 	constructor(options?: EmitterOptions) {
 		this._options = options;
-		this._leakageMon = _globalLeakWarningThreshold > 0 || this._options?.leakWarningThreshold ? new LeakageMonitor(this._options?.leakWarningThreshold ?? _globalLeakWarningThreshold) : undefined;
+		this._leakageMon = (_globalLeakWarningThreshold > 0 || this._options?.leakWarningThreshold)
+			? new LeakageMonitor(options?.onListenerError ?? onUnexpectedError, this._options?.leakWarningThreshold ?? _globalLeakWarningThreshold) :
+			undefined;
 		this._perfMon = this._options?._profName ? new EventProfiling(this._options._profName) : undefined;
 		this._deliveryQueue = this._options?.deliveryQueue as EventDeliveryQueuePrivate | undefined;
 	}
@@ -1033,7 +1066,14 @@ export class Emitter<T> {
 	get event(): Event<T> {
 		this._event ??= (callback: (e: T) => any, thisArgs?: any, disposables?: IDisposable[] | DisposableStore) => {
 			if (this._leakageMon && this._size > this._leakageMon.threshold * 3) {
-				console.warn(`[${this._leakageMon.name}] REFUSES to accept new listeners because it exceeded its threshold by far`);
+				const message = `[${this._leakageMon.name}] REFUSES to accept new listeners because it exceeded its threshold by far (${this._size}/${this._leakageMon.threshold})`;
+				console.warn(message);
+
+				const tuple = this._leakageMon.getMostFrequentStack() ?? ['UNKNOWN stack', -1];
+				const error = new ListenerRefusalError(`${message}. HINT: Stack shows most frequent listener (${tuple[1]}-times)`, tuple[0]);
+				const errorHandler = this._options?.onListenerError || onUnexpectedError;
+				errorHandler(error);
+
 				return Disposable.None;
 			}
 
diff --git a/src/vs/base/test/common/event.test.ts b/src/vs/base/test/common/event.test.ts
index 49962c89d5a..7c33d1f41af 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/test/common/event.test.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/test/common/event.test.ts
@@ -4,10 +4,11 @@
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 import * as assert from 'assert';
 import { stub } from 'sinon';
+import { tail2 } from 'vs/base/common/arrays';
 import { DeferredPromise, timeout } from 'vs/base/common/async';
 import { CancellationToken } from 'vs/base/common/cancellation';
 import { errorHandler, setUnexpectedErrorHandler } from 'vs/base/common/errors';
-import { AsyncEmitter, DebounceEmitter, DynamicListEventMultiplexer, Emitter, Event, EventBufferer, EventMultiplexer, IWaitUntil, MicrotaskEmitter, PauseableEmitter, Relay, createEventDeliveryQueue } from 'vs/base/common/event';
+import { AsyncEmitter, DebounceEmitter, DynamicListEventMultiplexer, Emitter, Event, EventBufferer, EventMultiplexer, IWaitUntil, ListenerLeakError, ListenerRefusalError, MicrotaskEmitter, PauseableEmitter, Relay, createEventDeliveryQueue } from 'vs/base/common/event';
 import { DisposableStore, IDisposable, isDisposable, setDisposableTracker, DisposableTracker } from 'vs/base/common/lifecycle';
 import { observableValue, transaction } from 'vs/base/common/observable';
 import { MicrotaskDelay } from 'vs/base/common/symbols';
@@ -368,6 +369,31 @@ suite('Event', function () {
 
 	});
 
+	test('throw ListenerLeakError', () => {
+
+		const store = new DisposableStore();
+		const allError: any[] = [];
+
+		const a = ds.add(new Emitter<undefined>({
+			onListenerError(e) { allError.push(e); },
+			leakWarningThreshold: 1,
+		}));
+
+		for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
+			a.event(() => { }, undefined, store);
+		}
+
+		assert.deepStrictEqual(allError.length, 4);
+		const [start, tail] = tail2(allError);
+		assert.ok(tail instanceof ListenerRefusalError);
+
+		for (const item of start) {
+			assert.ok(item instanceof ListenerLeakError);
+		}
+
+		store.dispose();
+	});
+
 	test('reusing event function and context', function () {
 		let counter = 0;
 		function listener() {
diff --git a/test/unit/electron/renderer.js b/test/unit/electron/renderer.js
index 26e45f9ff9d..c9f4dfa1e6a 100644
--- a/test/unit/electron/renderer.js
+++ b/test/unit/electron/renderer.js
@@ -199,7 +199,8 @@ async function loadTests(opts) {
 		'issue #149130: vscode freezes because of Bracket Pair Colorization', // https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/192440
 		'property limits', // https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/192443
 		'Error events', // https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/192443
-		'fetch returns keybinding with user first if title and id matches' //
+		'fetch returns keybinding with user first if title and id matches', //
+		'throw ListenerLeakError'
 	]);
 
 	let _testsWithUnexpectedOutput = false;