diff --git a/gcloud-java-datastore/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/spi/DatastoreRpc.java b/gcloud-java-datastore/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/spi/DatastoreRpc.java
index dffcc3f0e16f..3e875ff2b8ba 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-datastore/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/spi/DatastoreRpc.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-datastore/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/spi/DatastoreRpc.java
@@ -79,12 +79,12 @@ public int httpStatus() {
     private final int httpStatus;
     private final boolean retryable;
 
-    public DatastoreRpcException(Reason reason) {
-      this(reason.name(), reason.httpStatus, reason.retryable, reason.description);
+    public DatastoreRpcException(Reason reason, Throwable cause) {
+      this(reason.name(), reason.httpStatus, reason.retryable, reason.description, cause);
     }
 
-    public DatastoreRpcException(String reason, int httpStatus, boolean retryable, String message) {
-      super(message);
+    public DatastoreRpcException(String reason, int httpStatus, boolean retryable, String message, Throwable cause) {
+      super(message, cause);
       this.reason = reason;
       this.httpStatus = httpStatus;
       this.retryable = retryable;
diff --git a/gcloud-java-datastore/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/spi/DefaultDatastoreRpc.java b/gcloud-java-datastore/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/spi/DefaultDatastoreRpc.java
index 4771895eec99..fa993c508a0b 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-datastore/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/spi/DefaultDatastoreRpc.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-datastore/src/main/java/com/google/gcloud/spi/DefaultDatastoreRpc.java
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ private static DatastoreRpcException translate(DatastoreException exception) {
       reason = HTTP_STATUS_TO_REASON.get(exception.getCode());
     }
     if (reason != null) {
-      return new DatastoreRpcException(reason);
+      return new DatastoreRpcException(reason, exception);
     } else {
       boolean retryable = false;
       reasonStr = "Unknown";
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ private static DatastoreRpcException translate(DatastoreException exception) {
         retryable = true;
         reasonStr = "Request timeout";
       }
-      return new DatastoreRpcException(reasonStr, exception.getCode(), retryable, message);
+      return new DatastoreRpcException(reasonStr, exception.getCode(), retryable, message, exception);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/gcloud-java-datastore/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/datastore/DatastoreExceptionTest.java b/gcloud-java-datastore/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/datastore/DatastoreExceptionTest.java
index 9ad836b15a4e..9f28dccd4930 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-datastore/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/datastore/DatastoreExceptionTest.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-datastore/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/datastore/DatastoreExceptionTest.java
@@ -42,12 +42,15 @@ public void testDatastoreError() throws Exception {
 
   @Test
   public void testTranslateAndThrow() throws Exception {
+    DatastoreRpcException toTranslate = null; // this should be preserved as a cause
     for (Reason reason : Reason.values()) {
       try {
-        DatastoreException.translateAndThrow(new DatastoreRpcException(reason));
+        toTranslate = new DatastoreRpcException(reason, null);
+        DatastoreException.translateAndThrow(toTranslate);
         fail("Exception expected");
       } catch (DatastoreException ex) {
         assertEquals(reason.name(), ex.datastoreError().name());
+        assertEquals(toTranslate, ex.getCause());
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/gcloud-java-datastore/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/datastore/DatastoreTest.java b/gcloud-java-datastore/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/datastore/DatastoreTest.java
index 029b161c1c38..9874054f5744 100644
--- a/gcloud-java-datastore/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/datastore/DatastoreTest.java
+++ b/gcloud-java-datastore/src/test/java/com/google/gcloud/datastore/DatastoreTest.java
@@ -734,7 +734,7 @@ public void testRetryableException() throws Exception {
     EasyMock.expect(rpcFactoryMock.create(EasyMock.anyObject(DatastoreOptions.class)))
         .andReturn(rpcMock);
     EasyMock.expect(rpcMock.lookup(requestPb))
-        .andThrow(new DatastoreRpc.DatastoreRpcException(Reason.UNAVAILABLE))
+        .andThrow(new DatastoreRpc.DatastoreRpcException(Reason.UNAVAILABLE, null))
         .andReturn(responsePb);
     EasyMock.replay(rpcFactoryMock, rpcMock);
     DatastoreOptions options = this.options.toBuilder()
@@ -756,7 +756,7 @@ public void testNonRetryableException() throws Exception {
     EasyMock.expect(rpcFactoryMock.create(EasyMock.anyObject(DatastoreOptions.class)))
         .andReturn(rpcMock);
     EasyMock.expect(rpcMock.lookup(requestPb))
-        .andThrow(new DatastoreRpc.DatastoreRpcException(Reason.PERMISSION_DENIED))
+        .andThrow(new DatastoreRpc.DatastoreRpcException(Reason.PERMISSION_DENIED, null))
         .times(1);
     EasyMock.replay(rpcFactoryMock, rpcMock);
     RetryParams retryParams = RetryParams.builder().retryMinAttempts(2).build();