diff --git a/backend/error_source.go b/backend/error_source.go
index 8c157cf30..526334f40 100644
--- a/backend/error_source.go
+++ b/backend/error_source.go
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
+
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana-plugin-sdk-go/backend/httpclient"
 )
 
 // ErrorSource type defines the source of the error
@@ -25,6 +27,13 @@ func (es ErrorSource) IsValid() bool {
 	return es == ErrorSourceDownstream || es == ErrorSourcePlugin
 }
 
+func ErrorSourceFromHTTPError(err error) ErrorSource {
+	if httpclient.IsDownstreamHTTPError(err) {
+		return ErrorSourceDownstream
+	}
+	return ErrorSourcePlugin
+}
+
 // ErrorSourceFromStatus returns an [ErrorSource] based on provided HTTP status code.
 func ErrorSourceFromHTTPStatus(statusCode int) ErrorSource {
 	switch statusCode {
diff --git a/backend/httpclient/error_source_middleware.go b/backend/httpclient/error_source_middleware.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0d7a383ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/httpclient/error_source_middleware.go
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+package httpclient
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"net"
+	"net/http"
+	"os"
+	"syscall"
+
+	grpccodes "google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
+	grpcstatus "google.golang.org/grpc/status"
+)
+
+const ErrorSourceMiddlewareName = "ErrorSource"
+
+func ErrorSourceMiddleware() Middleware {
+	return NamedMiddlewareFunc(ErrorSourceMiddlewareName, func(_ Options, next http.RoundTripper) http.RoundTripper {
+		return RoundTripperFunc(func(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
+			res, err := next.RoundTrip(req)
+			if err != nil && IsDownstreamHTTPError(err) {
+				return res, DownstreamError(err)
+			}
+
+			return res, err
+		})
+	})
+}
+
+type ErrorSource string
+
+const (
+	ErrorSourcePlugin     ErrorSource = "plugin"
+	ErrorSourceDownstream ErrorSource = "downstream"
+)
+
+type errorWithSourceImpl struct {
+	source ErrorSource
+	err    error
+}
+
+func IsDownstreamHTTPError(err error) bool {
+	e := errorWithSourceImpl{
+		source: ErrorSourceDownstream,
+	}
+	if errors.Is(err, e) {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	// nolint:errorlint
+	if errWithSource, ok := err.(errorWithSourceImpl); ok && errWithSource.ErrorSource() == ErrorSourceDownstream {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	// Check if the error is a HTTP timeout error or a context cancelled error
+	if isHTTPTimeoutError(err) {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	if isCancelledError(err) {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	if isConnectionResetOrRefusedError(err) {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	if isDNSNotFoundError(err) {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
+func isCancelledError(err error) bool {
+	return errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) || grpcstatus.Code(err) == grpccodes.Canceled
+}
+
+func isHTTPTimeoutError(err error) bool {
+	var netErr net.Error
+	if errors.As(err, &netErr) && netErr.Timeout() {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	return errors.Is(err, os.ErrDeadlineExceeded) // replacement for os.IsTimeout(err)
+}
+
+func isConnectionResetOrRefusedError(err error) bool {
+	var netErr *net.OpError
+	if errors.As(err, &netErr) {
+		var sysErr *os.SyscallError
+		if errors.As(netErr.Err, &sysErr) {
+			return errors.Is(sysErr.Err, syscall.ECONNRESET) || errors.Is(sysErr.Err, syscall.ECONNREFUSED)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
+func isDNSNotFoundError(err error) bool {
+	var dnsError *net.DNSError
+	if errors.As(err, &dnsError) && dnsError.IsNotFound {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
+func (e errorWithSourceImpl) ErrorSource() ErrorSource {
+	return e.source
+}
+
+func (e errorWithSourceImpl) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Errorf("%s error: %w", e.source, e.err).Error()
+}
+
+// Implements the interface used by [errors.Is].
+func (e errorWithSourceImpl) Is(err error) bool {
+	if errWithSource, ok := err.(errorWithSourceImpl); ok {
+		return errWithSource.ErrorSource() == e.source
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
+func (e errorWithSourceImpl) Unwrap() error {
+	return e.err
+}
+
+func DownstreamError(err error) error {
+	return errorWithSourceImpl{
+		source: ErrorSourceDownstream,
+		err:    err,
+	}
+}
diff --git a/backend/httpclient/http_client.go b/backend/httpclient/http_client.go
index 40a4d39d4..0d88f72e8 100644
--- a/backend/httpclient/http_client.go
+++ b/backend/httpclient/http_client.go
@@ -210,6 +210,7 @@ func DefaultMiddlewares() []Middleware {
 		BasicAuthenticationMiddleware(),
 		CustomHeadersMiddleware(),
 		ContextualMiddleware(),
+		ErrorSourceMiddleware(),
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/backend/httpclient/http_client_test.go b/backend/httpclient/http_client_test.go
index 570fe0833..e8875d180 100644
--- a/backend/httpclient/http_client_test.go
+++ b/backend/httpclient/http_client_test.go
@@ -55,11 +55,12 @@ func TestNewClient(t *testing.T) {
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		require.NotNil(t, client)
 
-		require.Len(t, usedMiddlewares, 4)
+		require.Len(t, usedMiddlewares, 5)
 		require.Equal(t, TracingMiddlewareName, usedMiddlewares[0].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
 		require.Equal(t, BasicAuthenticationMiddlewareName, usedMiddlewares[1].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
 		require.Equal(t, CustomHeadersMiddlewareName, usedMiddlewares[2].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
 		require.Equal(t, ContextualMiddlewareName, usedMiddlewares[3].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
+		require.Equal(t, ErrorSourceMiddlewareName, usedMiddlewares[4].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
 	})
 
 	t.Run("New() with opts middleware should return expected http.Client", func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/backend/httpclient/provider_test.go b/backend/httpclient/provider_test.go
index b5331321a..8d5984fb1 100644
--- a/backend/httpclient/provider_test.go
+++ b/backend/httpclient/provider_test.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ func TestProvider(t *testing.T) {
 			client, err := ctx.provider.New()
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 			require.NotNil(t, client)
-			require.Len(t, ctx.usedMiddlewares, 4)
+			require.Len(t, ctx.usedMiddlewares, 5)
 			require.Equal(t, TracingMiddlewareName, ctx.usedMiddlewares[0].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
 			require.Equal(t, BasicAuthenticationMiddlewareName, ctx.usedMiddlewares[1].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
 			require.Equal(t, CustomHeadersMiddlewareName, ctx.usedMiddlewares[2].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func TestProvider(t *testing.T) {
 			transport, err := ctx.provider.GetTransport()
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 			require.NotNil(t, transport)
-			require.Len(t, ctx.usedMiddlewares, 4)
+			require.Len(t, ctx.usedMiddlewares, 5)
 			require.Equal(t, TracingMiddlewareName, ctx.usedMiddlewares[0].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
 			require.Equal(t, BasicAuthenticationMiddlewareName, ctx.usedMiddlewares[1].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
 			require.Equal(t, CustomHeadersMiddlewareName, ctx.usedMiddlewares[2].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func TestProvider(t *testing.T) {
 			require.Equal(t, DefaultTimeoutOptions.Timeout, client.Timeout)
 
 			t.Run("Should use configured middlewares and implement MiddlewareName", func(t *testing.T) {
-				require.Len(t, pCtx.usedMiddlewares, 7)
+				require.Len(t, pCtx.usedMiddlewares, 8)
 				require.Equal(t, "mw1", pCtx.usedMiddlewares[0].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
 				require.Equal(t, "mw2", pCtx.usedMiddlewares[1].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
 				require.Equal(t, "mw3", pCtx.usedMiddlewares[2].(MiddlewareName).MiddlewareName())
diff --git a/experimental/errorsource/error_source_middleware.go b/experimental/errorsource/error_source_middleware.go
index 95ff79b10..db9ef5dfa 100644
--- a/experimental/errorsource/error_source_middleware.go
+++ b/experimental/errorsource/error_source_middleware.go
@@ -2,9 +2,7 @@ package errorsource
 
 import (
 	"errors"
-	"net"
 	"net/http"
-	"syscall"
 
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana-plugin-sdk-go/backend"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana-plugin-sdk-go/backend/httpclient"
@@ -26,11 +24,7 @@ func RoundTripper(_ httpclient.Options, next http.RoundTripper) http.RoundTrippe
 			}
 			return res, Error{source: errorSource, err: err}
 		}
-		if errors.Is(err, syscall.ECONNREFUSED) {
-			return res, Error{source: backend.ErrorSourceDownstream, err: err}
-		}
-		var dnsError *net.DNSError
-		if errors.As(err, &dnsError) && dnsError.IsNotFound {
+		if httpclient.IsDownstreamHTTPError(err) {
 			return res, Error{source: backend.ErrorSourceDownstream, err: err}
 		}
 		return res, err