diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f3e3fcfc..11f791b8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 - None
 
 ## New features
-- None
+- [Notifications] System error notifications can now be delivered via the same set of alerters as rule alerts - [#1546](https://github.com/jertel/elastalert2/pull/1546) - @jertel
+- [Notifications] New config option `notify_all_errors` supports all system errors, including loss of data connectivity - [#1546](https://github.com/jertel/elastalert2/pull/1546) - @jertel
 
 ## Other changes
 - [Docs] Mention the two available Spike-rule metrics that are add into the match record - [#1542](https://github.com/jertel/elastalert2/pull/1542) - @ulmako
diff --git a/docs/source/alerts.rst b/docs/source/alerts.rst
index 9b90f785..3b766687 100644
--- a/docs/source/alerts.rst
+++ b/docs/source/alerts.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+.. _Alerts:
+
 Alerts
 ******
 
diff --git a/docs/source/configuration.rst b/docs/source/configuration.rst
index 688689b3..e822979a 100644
--- a/docs/source/configuration.rst
+++ b/docs/source/configuration.rst
@@ -91,9 +91,37 @@ rule will no longer be run until either ElastAlert 2 restarts or the rule file h
 
 ``show_disabled_rules``: If true, ElastAlert 2 show the disable rules' list when finishes the execution. This defaults to True.
 
-``notify_email``: An email address, or list of email addresses, to which notification emails will be sent. Currently,
-only an uncaught exception will send a notification email. The from address, SMTP host, and reply-to header can be set
-using ``from_addr``, ``smtp_host``, and ``email_reply_to`` options, respectively. By default, no emails will be sent.
+``notify_alert``: List of alerters to execute upon encountering a system error. System errors occur when an unexpected exception is thrown during rule processing. For additional notifications, such as when ElastAlert 2 background tests encounter problems, or when connectivity to the data storage system is lost, enable ``notify_all_errors``. 
+
+See the :ref:`Alerts` section for the list of available alerters and their parameters.
+
+Included fields in a system notification are:
+
+- message: The details about the error
+- timestamp: The time that the error occurred
+- rule: Rule object if the error occurred during the processing of a rule, otherwise will be empty/None.
+
+The following example shows how all ElastAlert 2 system errors can be delivered to both a Matrix chat server and an email address.
+
+.. code-block:: yaml
+
+    notify_alert:
+    - email
+    - matrixhookshot
+
+    notify_all_errors: true
+
+    email:
+    - jason@some-domain.com
+    smtp_host: some-mail-host.com
+    from_addr: "ElastAlert 2 <sysadmin@some-server.com>"
+    smtp_auth_file: /opt/elastalert2/smtp.auth
+    matrixhookshot_webhook_url: https://some-matrix-server/webhook/xyz
+
+``notify_all_errors``: If true, notification emails will be sent on additional system errors. This can cause a large number of emails to be sent when connectivity to Elasticsearch is lost. When set to false, only unexpected, rule-specific errors will be sent.
+
+``notify_email``: (DEPRECATED) An email address, or list of email addresses, to which notification emails will be sent upon encountering an unexpected rule error. The from address, SMTP host, and reply-to header can be set
+using ``from_addr``, ``smtp_host``, and ``email_reply_to`` options, respectively. By default, no emails will be sent. NOTE: This is a legacy method with limited email delivery support. Use the newer ``notify_alert`` setting to gain the full flexibility of ElastAlert 2's alerter library for system notifications.
 
 single address example::
 
diff --git a/elastalert/elastalert.py b/elastalert/elastalert.py
index 4e5d10ad..31174701 100755
--- a/elastalert/elastalert.py
+++ b/elastalert/elastalert.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 from elastalert.opensearch_external_url_formatter import create_opensearch_external_url_formatter
 from elastalert.prometheus_wrapper import PrometheusWrapper
 from elastalert.ruletypes import FlatlineRule
+from elastalert.ruletypes import RuleType
 from elastalert.util import (add_keyword_postfix, cronite_datetime_to_timestamp, dt_to_ts, dt_to_unix, EAException,
                              elastalert_logger, elasticsearch_client, format_index, lookup_es_key, parse_deadline,
                              parse_duration, pretty_ts, replace_dots_in_field_names, seconds, set_es_key,
@@ -137,6 +138,13 @@ def __init__(self, args):
         self.old_query_limit = self.conf['old_query_limit']
         self.disable_rules_on_error = self.conf['disable_rules_on_error']
         self.notify_email = self.conf.get('notify_email', [])
+        self.notify_all_errors = self.conf.get('notify_all_errors', False)
+        self.notify_alert = self.conf.get('notify_alert', [])
+        alert_conf_obj = self.conf.copy()
+        alert_conf_obj['name'] = 'ElastAlert 2 System Error Notification'
+        alert_conf_obj['alert'] = self.notify_alert
+        alert_conf_obj['type'] = RuleType({})
+        self.notify_alerters = self.rules_loader.load_alerts(alert_conf_obj, self.notify_alert)
         self.from_addr = self.conf.get('from_addr', 'ElastAlert')
         self.smtp_host = self.conf.get('smtp_host', 'localhost')
         self.max_aggregation = self.conf.get('max_aggregation', 10000)
@@ -1500,6 +1508,8 @@ def writeback(self, doc_type, body, rule=None, match_body=None):
             return res
         except ElasticsearchException as e:
             elastalert_logger.exception("Error writing alert info to Elasticsearch: %s" % (e))
+            if self.notify_all_errors:
+                self.handle_notify_error(e, None)
 
     def find_recent_pending_alerts(self, time_limit):
         """ Queries writeback_es to find alerts that did not send
@@ -1521,6 +1531,8 @@ def find_recent_pending_alerts(self, time_limit):
                 return res['hits']['hits']
         except ElasticsearchException as e:
             elastalert_logger.exception("Error finding recent pending alerts: %s %s" % (e, query))
+            if self.notify_all_errors:
+                self.handle_notify_error(e, None)
         return []
 
     def send_pending_alerts(self):
@@ -1788,6 +1800,23 @@ def is_silenced(self, rule_name):
                 return True
         return False
 
+    def handle_notify_error(self, message, rule, exception=None):
+        if self.notify_email:
+            self.send_notification_email(exception=exception, rule=rule)
+        if self.notify_alerters:
+            alert_pipeline = {"alert_time": ts_now()}
+            details = [{
+                'timestamp': ts_now(),
+                'message': message,
+                'rule': rule,
+            }]
+            for alerter in self.notify_alerters:
+                alerter.pipeline = alert_pipeline
+                try:
+                    alerter.alert(details)
+                except Exception as e:
+                    elastalert_logger.error('Error while running notify alert %s: %s' % (alerter.get_info()['type'], e))
+
     def handle_error(self, message, data=None):
         ''' Logs message at error level and writes message, data and traceback to Elasticsearch. '''
         elastalert_logger.error(message)
@@ -1797,18 +1826,20 @@ def handle_error(self, message, data=None):
         if data:
             body['data'] = data
         self.writeback('elastalert_error', body)
+        if self.notify_all_errors:
+            self.handle_notify_error(message, None)
 
     def handle_uncaught_exception(self, exception, rule):
         """ Disables a rule and sends a notification. """
         elastalert_logger.error(traceback.format_exc())
-        self.handle_error('Uncaught exception running rule %s: %s' % (rule['name'], exception), {'rule': rule['name']})
+        msg = 'Uncaught exception running rule %s: %s' % (rule['name'], exception)
+        self.handle_error(msg, {'rule': rule['name']})
         if self.disable_rules_on_error:
             self.rules = [running_rule for running_rule in self.rules if running_rule['name'] != rule['name']]
             self.disabled_rules.append(rule)
             self.scheduler.pause_job(job_id=rule['name'])
             elastalert_logger.info('Rule %s disabled', rule['name'])
-        if self.notify_email:
-            self.send_notification_email(exception=exception, rule=rule)
+        self.handle_notify_error(msg, rule, exception=exception)
 
     def send_notification_email(self, text='', exception=None, rule=None, subject=None, rule_file=None):
         email_body = text
@@ -1846,7 +1877,7 @@ def send_notification_email(self, text='', exception=None, rule=None, subject=No
             smtp = SMTP(self.smtp_host)
             smtp.sendmail(self.from_addr, recipients, email.as_string())
         except (SMTPException, error) as e:
-            self.handle_error('Error connecting to SMTP host: %s' % (e), {'email_body': email_body})
+            elastalert_logger.error('Error connecting to SMTP host: %s' % (e), {'email_body': email_body})
 
     def get_top_counts(self, rule, starttime, endtime, keys, number=None, qk=None):
         """ Counts the number of events for each unique value for each key field.
diff --git a/elastalert/schema.yaml b/elastalert/schema.yaml
index 9cfc9d18..c9fff6c9 100644
--- a/elastalert/schema.yaml
+++ b/elastalert/schema.yaml
@@ -6,11 +6,16 @@ definitions:
     type: [string, array]
     items: {type: string}
 
-  # Either a single string OR an array of strings OR an array of ararys
+  # Either a single string OR an array of strings OR an array of arrays
   arrayOfStringsOrOtherArrays: &arrayOfStringsOrOtherArray
     type: [string, array]
     items: {type: [string, array]}
 
+  # Either a single string OR an array of strings OR an array of objects
+  stringOrArrayOfStringsOrObjects: &stringOrArrayOfStringsOrObjects
+    type: [string, array]
+    items: {type: [string, object]}
+
   timedelta: &timedelta
     type: object
     additionalProperties: false
@@ -304,6 +309,10 @@ properties:
   replace_dots_in_field_names: {type: boolean}
   scan_entire_timeframe: {type: boolean}
   
+  ## System Error Notifications
+  notify_alert: *stringOrArrayOfStringsOrObjects
+  notify_all_errors: {type: boolean}
+
   ### summary table
   summary_table_fields: {type: array, items: {type: string}}
   summary_table_type: {type: string, enum: ['ascii', 'html', 'markdown']}
diff --git a/tests/base_test.py b/tests/base_test.py
index 2121463f..d7830583 100644
--- a/tests/base_test.py
+++ b/tests/base_test.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 from elasticsearch.exceptions import ConnectionError
 from elasticsearch.exceptions import ElasticsearchException
 
+from elastalert.alerts import Alerter
 from elastalert.enhancements import BaseEnhancement
 from elastalert.enhancements import DropMatchException
 from elastalert.enhancements import TimeEnhancement
@@ -1288,6 +1289,34 @@ def test_uncaught_exceptions(ea):
     assert mock_email.call_args_list[0][1] == {'exception': e, 'rule': ea.disabled_rules[0]}
 
 
+def test_handle_notify_error_unconfigured(ea):
+    testmsg = "testing"
+    testrule = {}
+    testex = Exception()
+
+    with mock.patch.object(ea, 'send_notification_email') as mock_email:
+        ea.handle_notify_error(testmsg, testrule, testex)
+    assert not mock_email.called
+
+
+def test_handle_notify_error_alerts(ea):
+    testmsg = "testing"
+    testrule = {}
+    testex = Exception()
+
+    fake_alert = Alerter(testrule)
+
+    ea.notify_alerters = [fake_alert]
+    with mock.patch.object(fake_alert, 'alert') as mock_alert:
+        ea.handle_notify_error(testmsg, testrule, testex)
+        assert mock_alert.called
+        actual = mock_alert.call_args_list[0][0][0]
+        details = actual[0]
+        assert details['timestamp'] is not None
+        assert details['message'] == testmsg
+        assert details['rule'] == testrule
+
+
 def test_get_top_counts_handles_no_hits_returned(ea):
     with mock.patch.object(ea, 'get_hits_terms') as mock_hits:
         mock_hits.return_value = None
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 64e25546..afb6b6e0 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ def __init__(self, conf):
         self.load = mock.Mock()
         self.get_hashes = mock.Mock()
         self.load_configuration = mock.Mock()
+        self.load_alerts = mock.Mock(return_value=[])
 
 
 class mock_ruletype(object):
diff --git a/tests/docker-compose.yml b/tests/docker-compose.yml
index 7b8dd285..cd1beedb 100644
--- a/tests/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/tests/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-version: '2'
 services:
     tox:
         build: