diff --git a/tests/phpunit/includes/testcase.php b/tests/phpunit/includes/testcase.php
index ce7a7600a2..27aabbf906 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/includes/testcase.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/includes/testcase.php
@@ -292,6 +292,10 @@ class WP_UnitTestCase extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
 	}
 
 	function wp_die_handler( $message ) {
+		if ( ! is_scalar( $message ) ) {
+			$message = '0';
+		}
+
 		throw new WPDieException( $message );
 	}
 
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/includes/helpers.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/includes/helpers.php
index 64cb633a42..b035d31672 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/includes/helpers.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/includes/helpers.php
@@ -204,4 +204,12 @@ class Tests_TestHelpers extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 		_doing_it_wrong( __METHOD__, __( 'Incorrect usage test' ), '2.5' );
 		return true;
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 36166
+	 * @expectedException WPDieException
+	 */
+	public function test_die_handler_should_handle_wp_error() {
+		wp_die( new WP_Error( 'test', 'test' ) );
+	}
 }