diff --git a/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/kinesis/clientlibrary/lib/worker/Worker.java b/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/kinesis/clientlibrary/lib/worker/Worker.java
index bcca1a42..6f51f151 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/kinesis/clientlibrary/lib/worker/Worker.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/services/kinesis/clientlibrary/lib/worker/Worker.java
@@ -86,6 +86,9 @@ public class Worker implements Runnable {
     private static final WorkerStateChangeListener DEFAULT_WORKER_STATE_CHANGE_LISTENER = new NoOpWorkerStateChangeListener();
     private static final boolean DEFAULT_EXITS_ON_FAILURE = false;
 
+    // WARNING: dynamo connector depends upon this exact string
+    private static final String PROCESS_RECORDS_ERROR_MESSAGE = "Failure to process records";
+
     private WorkerLog wlog = new WorkerLog();
 
     private final String applicationName;
@@ -528,6 +531,8 @@ public class Worker implements Runnable {
             wlog.info("Sleeping ...");
             Thread.sleep(idleTimeInMilliseconds);
         } catch (Exception e) {
+            if (e.getCause().getMessage().contains(PROCESS_RECORDS_ERROR_MESSAGE))
+                throw new RuntimeException("Failing worker after irrecoverable failure in processing records");
             if (exitOnFailure && retries.getAndIncrement() > MAX_RETRIES)
                 throw new RuntimeException("Failing after " + MAX_RETRIES + " attempts", e);