diff --git a/ext/standard/string.c b/ext/standard/string.c
index c2f29baec7732..bc1d3feade1e4 100644
--- a/ext/standard/string.c
+++ b/ext/standard/string.c
@@ -5610,8 +5610,8 @@ PHP_FUNCTION(substr_count)
 	ZEND_PARSE_PARAMETERS_END();
 
 	if (needle_len == 0) {
-		php_error_docref(NULL, E_WARNING, "Empty substring");
-		RETURN_FALSE;
+		zend_throw_error(NULL, "Empty substring");
+		return;
 	}
 
 	p = haystack;
@@ -5632,6 +5632,7 @@ PHP_FUNCTION(substr_count)
 			length += (haystack_len - offset);
 		}
 		if (length < 0 || ((size_t)length > (haystack_len - offset))) {
+			/* TODO Check if Candidate to convert to Exception */
 			php_error_docref(NULL, E_WARNING, "Invalid length value");
 			RETURN_FALSE;
 		}
diff --git a/ext/standard/tests/strings/substr_count_basic.phpt b/ext/standard/tests/strings/substr_count_basic.phpt
index 4023a774d8e74..385689e697050 100644
--- a/ext/standard/tests/strings/substr_count_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/standard/tests/strings/substr_count_basic.phpt
@@ -4,17 +4,25 @@ Test substr_count() function (basic)
 <?php
 
 echo "***Testing basic operations ***\n";
-var_dump(@substr_count("", ""));
-var_dump(@substr_count("a", ""));
-var_dump(@substr_count("", "a"));
-var_dump(@substr_count("", "a"));
-var_dump(@substr_count("", chr(0)));
+try {
+    substr_count("", "");
+} catch (\Error $e) {
+    echo $e->getMessage() . "\n";
+}
+try {
+    substr_count("a", "");
+} catch (\Error $e) {
+    echo $e->getMessage() . "\n";
+}
+var_dump(substr_count("", "a"));
+var_dump(substr_count("", "a"));
+var_dump(substr_count("", chr(0)));
 
 $a = str_repeat("abcacba", 100);
-var_dump(@substr_count($a, "bca"));
+var_dump(substr_count($a, "bca"));
 
 $a = str_repeat("abcacbabca", 100);
-var_dump(@substr_count($a, "bca"));
+var_dump(substr_count($a, "bca"));
 var_dump(substr_count($a, "bca", 200));
 var_dump(substr_count($a, "bca", 200, 50));
 var_dump(substr_count($a, "bca", -200));
@@ -26,8 +34,8 @@ echo "Done\n";
 ?>
 --EXPECT--
 ***Testing basic operations ***
-bool(false)
-bool(false)
+Empty substring
+Empty substring
 int(0)
 int(0)
 int(0)