diff --git a/C/exec.c b/C/exec.c
index 31c6c21e2..1ef3bdc11 100755
--- a/C/exec.c
+++ b/C/exec.c
@@ -1133,7 +1133,7 @@ exec_absmi(bool top, yap_reset_t reset_mode USES_REGS)
                 /* must be done here, otherwise siglongjmp will clobber all the registers */
                 Yap_Error(LOCAL_matherror ,TermNil,NULL);
                 /* reset the registers so that we don't have trash in abstract machine */
-                Yap_set_fpu_exceptions(true);
+                Yap_set_fpu_exceptions(getAtomicGlobalPrologFlag(ARITHMETIC_EXCEPTIONS_FLAG));
                 P = (yamop *)FAILCODE;
                 LOCAL_PrologMode = UserMode;
             }
diff --git a/H/YapFlags.h b/H/YapFlags.h
index fb0f0384b..1265249bf 100644
--- a/H/YapFlags.h
+++ b/H/YapFlags.h
@@ -207,6 +207,10 @@ static inline void setAtomicGlobalPrologFlag(int id, Term v) {
   GLOBAL_Flags[id].at = v;
 }
 
+static inline Term getAtomicGlobalPrologFlag(int id) {
+  return GLOBAL_Flags[id].at;
+}
+
 static inline void setAtomicLocalPrologFlag(int id, Term v) {
   CACHE_REGS
   check_refs_to_ltable();
diff --git a/H/YapGFlagInfo.h b/H/YapGFlagInfo.h
index d34e44d6e..d2b5d2ba7 100644
--- a/H/YapGFlagInfo.h
+++ b/H/YapGFlagInfo.h
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ YAP_FLAG(  ALLOW_ASSERT_FOR_STATIC_PREDICATES,  "allow_assert_for_static_predica
   /* YAP_FLAG(  ALLOW_VARIABLE_NAME_AS_FUNCTOR_FLAG,  "allow_variable_name_as_functor", true, boolean, "false" , NULL ), /\**< `allow_variable_name_as_functor` */
 
   /* 														     allow A(X) *\/ */
-YAP_FLAG(  ANSWER_FORMAT_FLAG, "answer_format", true, isatom, "~p" , NULL ), /** `arithmetic_exceptions `
+YAP_FLAG(  ANSWER_FORMAT_FLAG, "answer_format", true, isatom, "~p" , Yap_set_fpu_exceptions ), /** `arithmetic_exceptions `
 
     Read-write flag telling whether arithmetic exceptions generate
     Prolog exceptions. If enabled:
diff --git a/H/Yapproto.h b/H/Yapproto.h
index f1a9ec052..445d56ef3 100755
--- a/H/Yapproto.h
+++ b/H/Yapproto.h
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ int	Yap_IsOpMaxPrio(Atom);
 
 /* sysbits.c */
 void    Yap_InitPageSize(void);
-bool	Yap_set_fpu_exceptions(bool);
+bool	Yap_set_fpu_exceptions(Term);
 UInt	Yap_cputime(void);
 Int	Yap_walltime(void);
 int	Yap_dir_separator(int);
diff --git a/os/sysbits.c b/os/sysbits.c
index 18fbbd0ba..767a198a2 100644
--- a/os/sysbits.c
+++ b/os/sysbits.c
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ static void InitRandom(void);
 static Int p_alarm( USES_REGS1 );
 static Int p_getenv( USES_REGS1 );
 static Int p_putenv( USES_REGS1 );
-static bool set_fpu_exceptions(bool);
+static bool set_fpu_exceptions(Term);
 static char *expandVars(const char *pattern, char *expanded, int maxlen);
 #ifdef MACYAP
 static int chdir(char *);
@@ -2134,7 +2134,6 @@ Yap_MathException__( USES_REGS1 )
     return  EVALUATION_ERROR_UNDEFINED;
   }
   if (raised ) {
-
     feclearexcept(FE_ALL_EXCEPT);
     if (raised & FE_OVERFLOW) {
       return  EVALUATION_ERROR_FLOAT_OVERFLOW;
@@ -3238,9 +3237,9 @@ MSCHandleSignal(DWORD dwCtrlType) {
 
   /* by default Linux with glibc is IEEE compliant anyway..., but we will pretend it is not. */
   static bool
-    set_fpu_exceptions(bool flag)
+    set_fpu_exceptions(Term flag)
   {
-    if (flag) {
+    if (flag == TermTrue) {
 #if HAVE_FESETEXCEPTFLAG
       fexcept_t excepts;
       return fesetexceptflag(&excepts, FE_DIVBYZERO| FE_UNDERFLOW|FE_OVERFLOW) == 0;
@@ -3309,19 +3308,11 @@ MSCHandleSignal(DWORD dwCtrlType) {
   }
 
   bool
-    Yap_set_fpu_exceptions(bool flag)
+    Yap_set_fpu_exceptions(Term flag)
   {
     return set_fpu_exceptions(flag);
   }
 
-  static Int
-    p_set_fpu_exceptions( USES_REGS1 ) {
-    if (Deref(ARG1) == MkAtomTerm(AtomTrue)) {
-      return set_fpu_exceptions(true);
-    } else {
-      return set_fpu_exceptions( false );
-    }
-  }
 
   static Int
     p_host_type( USES_REGS1 ) {
@@ -3732,7 +3723,6 @@ MSCHandleSignal(DWORD dwCtrlType) {
     Yap_InitCPred ("$alarm", 4, p_alarm, SafePredFlag|SyncPredFlag);
     Yap_InitCPred ("$getenv", 2, p_getenv, SafePredFlag);
     Yap_InitCPred ("$putenv", 2, p_putenv, SafePredFlag|SyncPredFlag);
-    Yap_InitCPred ("$set_fpu_exceptions",1, p_set_fpu_exceptions, SafePredFlag|SyncPredFlag);
     Yap_InitCPred ("$host_type", 1, p_host_type, SafePredFlag|SyncPredFlag);
     Yap_InitCPred ("$env_separator", 1, p_env_separator, SafePredFlag);
     Yap_InitCPred ("$unix", 0, p_unix, SafePredFlag);
diff --git a/pl/errors.yap b/pl/errors.yap
index e7b16ce98..1dd2c5b82 100644
--- a/pl/errors.yap
+++ b/pl/errors.yap
@@ -259,9 +259,7 @@ to allow user-control.
 '$process_error'(error(permission_error(module,redefined,A),B), Level) :-
 	Level \= top, !,
 	throw(error(permission_error(module,redefined,A),B)).
-'$process_error'(error(Msg, Where), _) :- !,
-	'$set_fpu_exceptions'(true),
-	print_message(error,error(Msg, Where)).
+'$process_error'(error(Msg, Where), _) :-
+print_message(error,error(Msg, Where)), !.
 '$process_error'(Throw, _) :-
 	print_message(error,error(unhandled_exception,Throw)).
-