diff --git a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainer.java b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainer.java
index b9a59b4fc20..aaa4b8991f8 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainer.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainer.java
@@ -163,6 +163,9 @@ public class TomcatEmbeddedServletContainer implements EmbeddedServletContainer
 					throw exception;
 				}
 			}
+			if (!LifecycleState.STARTED.equals(container.getState())) {
+				throw new IllegalStateException(container + " failed to start");
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/jetty/JettyEmbeddedServletContainerFactoryTests.java b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/jetty/JettyEmbeddedServletContainerFactoryTests.java
index 607c2ab68ae..eb10c83b9a3 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/jetty/JettyEmbeddedServletContainerFactoryTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/jetty/JettyEmbeddedServletContainerFactoryTests.java
@@ -23,7 +23,13 @@ import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
+import javax.servlet.Filter;
+import javax.servlet.FilterChain;
+import javax.servlet.FilterConfig;
+import javax.servlet.ServletContext;
 import javax.servlet.ServletException;
+import javax.servlet.ServletRequest;
+import javax.servlet.ServletResponse;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
@@ -45,8 +51,10 @@ import org.mockito.InOrder;
 import org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.AbstractEmbeddedServletContainerFactory;
 import org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.AbstractEmbeddedServletContainerFactoryTests;
 import org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.Compression;
+import org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.EmbeddedServletContainerException;
 import org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.PortInUseException;
 import org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.Ssl;
+import org.springframework.boot.web.servlet.ServletContextInitializer;
 import org.springframework.boot.web.servlet.ServletRegistrationBean;
 import org.springframework.http.HttpHeaders;
 
@@ -282,6 +290,38 @@ public class JettyEmbeddedServletContainerFactoryTests
 				.getThreadPool()).isSameAs(threadPool);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void faultyFilterCausesStartFailure() throws Exception {
+		AbstractEmbeddedServletContainerFactory factory = getFactory();
+		factory.addInitializers(new ServletContextInitializer() {
+
+			@Override
+			public void onStartup(ServletContext servletContext) throws ServletException {
+				servletContext.addFilter("faulty", new Filter() {
+
+					@Override
+					public void init(FilterConfig filterConfig) throws ServletException {
+						throw new ServletException("Faulty filter");
+					}
+
+					@Override
+					public void doFilter(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response,
+							FilterChain chain) throws IOException, ServletException {
+						chain.doFilter(request, response);
+					}
+
+					@Override
+					public void destroy() {
+					}
+
+				});
+			}
+
+		});
+		this.thrown.expect(EmbeddedServletContainerException.class);
+		factory.getEmbeddedServletContainer().start();
+	}
+
 	@Override
 	@SuppressWarnings("serial")
 	// Workaround for Jetty issue - https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=470646
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainerFactoryTests.java b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainerFactoryTests.java
index ed5ea62394b..a14e4ff962e 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainerFactoryTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/context/embedded/tomcat/TomcatEmbeddedServletContainerFactoryTests.java
@@ -26,7 +26,13 @@ import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 import javax.naming.InitialContext;
 import javax.naming.NamingException;
+import javax.servlet.Filter;
+import javax.servlet.FilterChain;
+import javax.servlet.FilterConfig;
+import javax.servlet.ServletContext;
 import javax.servlet.ServletException;
+import javax.servlet.ServletRequest;
+import javax.servlet.ServletResponse;
 
 import org.apache.catalina.Container;
 import org.apache.catalina.Context;
@@ -53,6 +59,7 @@ import org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.AbstractEmbeddedServletContaine
 import org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.EmbeddedServletContainerException;
 import org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.Ssl;
 import org.springframework.boot.testutil.InternalOutputCapture;
+import org.springframework.boot.web.servlet.ServletContextInitializer;
 import org.springframework.test.util.ReflectionTestUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.SocketUtils;
 
@@ -460,6 +467,38 @@ public class TomcatEmbeddedServletContainerFactoryTests
 		assertThat(sessionIdGenerator.getJvmRoute()).isEqualTo("test");
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void faultyFilterCausesStartFailure() throws Exception {
+		AbstractEmbeddedServletContainerFactory factory = getFactory();
+		factory.addInitializers(new ServletContextInitializer() {
+
+			@Override
+			public void onStartup(ServletContext servletContext) throws ServletException {
+				servletContext.addFilter("faulty", new Filter() {
+
+					@Override
+					public void init(FilterConfig filterConfig) throws ServletException {
+						throw new ServletException("Faulty filter");
+					}
+
+					@Override
+					public void doFilter(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response,
+							FilterChain chain) throws IOException, ServletException {
+						chain.doFilter(request, response);
+					}
+
+					@Override
+					public void destroy() {
+					}
+
+				});
+			}
+
+		});
+		this.thrown.expect(EmbeddedServletContainerException.class);
+		factory.getEmbeddedServletContainer().start();
+	}
+
 	@Override
 	protected JspServlet getJspServlet() throws ServletException {
 		Container context = ((TomcatEmbeddedServletContainer) this.container).getTomcat()