diff --git a/src/main/java/org/junit/runners/BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.java b/src/main/java/org/junit/runners/BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.java
index bc0bf957e29e..8c3cef6c9d91 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/junit/runners/BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/junit/runners/BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.java
@@ -55,7 +55,9 @@
  * @since 4.5
  */
 public class BlockJUnit4ClassRunner extends ParentRunner<FrameworkMethod> {
+
     private final ConcurrentHashMap<FrameworkMethod, Description> methodDescriptions = new ConcurrentHashMap<FrameworkMethod, Description>();
+
     /**
      * Creates a BlockJUnit4ClassRunner to run {@code testClass}
      *
@@ -75,10 +77,17 @@ protected void runChild(final FrameworkMethod method, RunNotifier notifier) {
         if (isIgnored(method)) {
             notifier.fireTestIgnored(description);
         } else {
-            runLeaf(methodBlock(method), description, notifier);
+            Statement statement;
+            try {
+                statement = methodBlock(method);
+            }
+            catch (Throwable ex) {
+                statement = new Fail(ex);
+            }
+            runLeaf(statement, description, notifier);
         }
     }
-    
+
     /**
      * Evaluates whether {@link FrameworkMethod}s are ignored based on the
      * {@link Ignore} annotation.
@@ -390,10 +399,10 @@ private List<org.junit.rules.MethodRule> getMethodRules(Object target) {
     protected List<MethodRule> rules(Object target) {
         List<MethodRule> rules = getTestClass().getAnnotatedMethodValues(target, 
                 Rule.class, MethodRule.class);
-        
+
         rules.addAll(getTestClass().getAnnotatedFieldValues(target,
                 Rule.class, MethodRule.class));
-        
+
         return rules;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/junit/runners/CustomBlockJUnit4ClassRunnerTest.java b/src/test/java/org/junit/runners/CustomBlockJUnit4ClassRunnerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d9f072baacb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/junit/runners/CustomBlockJUnit4ClassRunnerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+package org.junit.runners;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.Description;
+import org.junit.runner.notification.Failure;
+import org.junit.runner.notification.RunListener;
+import org.junit.runner.notification.RunNotifier;
+import org.junit.runners.model.FrameworkMethod;
+import org.junit.runners.model.InitializationError;
+import org.junit.runners.model.Statement;
+
+/**
+ * Tests that verify proper behavior for custom runners that extend
+ * {@link BlockJUnit4ClassRunner}.
+ *
+ * @author Sam Brannen
+ * @since 4.13
+ */
+public class CustomBlockJUnit4ClassRunnerTest {
+
+	@Test
+	public void exceptionsFromMethodBlockMustNotResultInUnrootedTests() throws Exception {
+		TrackingRunListener listener = new TrackingRunListener();
+		RunNotifier notifier = new RunNotifier();
+		notifier.addListener(listener);
+
+		new CustomBlockJUnit4ClassRunner(CustomBlockJUnit4ClassRunnerTestCase.class).run(notifier);
+		assertEquals("tests started.", 2, listener.testStartedCount.get());
+		assertEquals("tests failed.", 1, listener.testFailureCount.get());
+		assertEquals("tests finished.", 2, listener.testFinishedCount.get());
+	}
+
+
+	public static class CustomBlockJUnit4ClassRunnerTestCase {
+		@Test public void shouldPass() { /* no-op */ }
+		@Test public void throwException() { /* no-op */ }
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Custom extension of {@link BlockJUnit4ClassRunner} that always throws
+	 * an exception from the {@code methodBlock()} if a test method is named
+	 * exactly {@code "throwException"}.
+	 */
+	private static class CustomBlockJUnit4ClassRunner extends BlockJUnit4ClassRunner {
+
+		CustomBlockJUnit4ClassRunner(Class<?> testClass) throws InitializationError {
+			super(testClass);
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		protected Statement methodBlock(FrameworkMethod method) {
+			if ("throwException".equals(method.getName())) {
+				throw new RuntimeException("throwException() test method invoked");
+			}
+			return super.methodBlock(method);
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Simple {@link RunListener} that tracks the number of times that
+	 * certain callbacks are invoked.
+	 */
+	private static class TrackingRunListener extends RunListener {
+
+		final AtomicInteger testStartedCount = new AtomicInteger();
+		final AtomicInteger testFailureCount = new AtomicInteger();
+		final AtomicInteger testFinishedCount = new AtomicInteger();
+
+
+		@Override
+		public void testStarted(Description description) throws Exception {
+			testStartedCount.incrementAndGet();
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public void testFailure(Failure failure) throws Exception {
+			testFailureCount.incrementAndGet();
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public void testFinished(Description description) throws Exception {
+			testFinishedCount.incrementAndGet();
+		}
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/junit/tests/AllTests.java b/src/test/java/org/junit/tests/AllTests.java
index 2b24b0e7f58b..b3d0d4527246 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/junit/tests/AllTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/junit/tests/AllTests.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import org.junit.runner.notification.ConcurrentRunNotifierTest;
 import org.junit.runner.notification.RunNotifierTest;
 import org.junit.runner.notification.SynchronizedRunListenerTest;
+import org.junit.runners.CustomBlockJUnit4ClassRunnerTest;
 import org.junit.runners.Suite;
 import org.junit.runners.Suite.SuiteClasses;
 import org.junit.runners.model.FrameworkFieldTest;
@@ -203,6 +204,7 @@
         RuleMemberValidatorTest.class,
         RuleChainTest.class,
         BlockJUnit4ClassRunnerTest.class,
+        CustomBlockJUnit4ClassRunnerTest.class,
         MethodSorterTest.class,
         TestedOnSupplierTest.class,
         StacktracePrintingMatcherTest.class,