diff --git a/go/mysql/sql_error.go b/go/mysql/sql_error.go
index fcbaa8c810b..42f65b0a96b 100644
--- a/go/mysql/sql_error.go
+++ b/go/mysql/sql_error.go
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ func NewSQLErrorFromError(err error) error {
 		case vtrpcpb.Code_UNAUTHENTICATED:
 			num = ERAccessDeniedError
 		case vtrpcpb.Code_RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED:
-			num = ERTooManyUserConnections
+			num = demuxResourceExhaustedErrors(err.Error())
 		case vtrpcpb.Code_FAILED_PRECONDITION:
 			num = ERUnknownError
 		case vtrpcpb.Code_ABORTED:
@@ -161,3 +161,14 @@ func NewSQLErrorFromError(err error) error {
 	}
 	return serr
 }
+
+var isGRPCOverflowRE = regexp.MustCompile(`.*grpc: received message larger than max \(\d+ vs. \d+\)`)
+
+func demuxResourceExhaustedErrors(msg string) int {
+	switch {
+	case isGRPCOverflowRE.Match([]byte(msg)):
+		return ERNetPacketTooLarge
+	default:
+		return ERTooManyUserConnections
+	}
+}
diff --git a/go/mysql/sql_error_test.go b/go/mysql/sql_error_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1d8d0339ffe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go/mysql/sql_error_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2020 The Vitess Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package mysql
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestDumuxResourceExhaustedErrors(t *testing.T) {
+	type testCase struct {
+		msg  string
+		want int
+	}
+
+	cases := []testCase{
+		testCase{"misc", ERTooManyUserConnections},
+		testCase{"grpc: received message larger than max (99282 vs. 1234): trailer", ERNetPacketTooLarge},
+		testCase{"grpc: received message larger than max (1234 vs. 1234)", ERNetPacketTooLarge},
+		testCase{"header: grpc: received message larger than max (1234 vs. 1234)", ERNetPacketTooLarge},
+		// This should be explicitly handled by returning ERNetPacketTooLarge from the execturo directly
+		// and therefore shouldn't need to be teased out of another error.
+		testCase{"in-memory row count exceeded allowed limit of 13", ERTooManyUserConnections},
+	}
+
+	for _, c := range cases {
+		got := demuxResourceExhaustedErrors(c.msg)
+		assert.Equalf(t, c.want, got, c.msg)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/go/vt/vtgate/executor.go b/go/vt/vtgate/executor.go
index 9356945ef03..1d170b2ab77 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtgate/executor.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtgate/executor.go
@@ -1128,7 +1128,7 @@ func (e *Executor) getPlan(vcursor *vcursorImpl, sql string, comments sqlparser.
 	statement := stmt
 	bindVarNeeds := sqlparser.BindVarNeeds{}
 	if !sqlparser.IgnoreMaxPayloadSizeDirective(statement) && !isValidPayloadSize(query) {
-		return nil, vterrors.New(vtrpcpb.Code_RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED, "query payload size above threshold")
+		return nil, mysql.NewSQLError(mysql.ERNetPacketTooLarge, "", "query payload size above threshold")
 	}
 	ignoreMaxMemoryRows := sqlparser.IgnoreMaxMaxMemoryRowsDirective(stmt)
 	vcursor.SetIgnoreMaxMemoryRows(ignoreMaxMemoryRows)
diff --git a/go/vt/vtgate/executor_test.go b/go/vt/vtgate/executor_test.go
index f11c0a7ce64..ca6f0c155f7 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtgate/executor_test.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtgate/executor_test.go
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func TestExecutorMaxMemoryRowsExceeded(t *testing.T) {
 		err   string
 	}{
 		{"select /*vt+ IGNORE_MAX_MEMORY_ROWS=1 */ * from main1", ""},
-		{"select * from main1", "in-memory row count exceeded allowed limit of 3"},
+		{"select * from main1", "in-memory row count exceeded allowed limit of 3 (errno 1153) (sqlstate HY000)"},
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range testCases {
@@ -1956,7 +1956,7 @@ func TestExecutorMaxPayloadSizeExceeded(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, query := range testMaxPayloadSizeExceeded {
 		_, err := executor.Execute(context.Background(), "TestExecutorMaxPayloadSizeExceeded", session, query, nil)
 		require.NotNil(t, err)
-		assert.EqualError(t, err, "query payload size above threshold")
+		assert.EqualError(t, err, "query payload size above threshold (errno 1153) (sqlstate HY000)")
 	}
 	assert.Equal(t, warningCount, warnings.Counts()["WarnPayloadSizeExceeded"], "warnings count")
 
diff --git a/go/vt/vtgate/legacy_scatter_conn_test.go b/go/vt/vtgate/legacy_scatter_conn_test.go
index f5bc4a4f2af..a97a51353d6 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtgate/legacy_scatter_conn_test.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtgate/legacy_scatter_conn_test.go
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ func TestMaxMemoryRows(t *testing.T) {
 		err                 string
 	}{
 		{true, ""},
-		{false, "in-memory row count exceeded allowed limit of 3"},
+		{false, "in-memory row count exceeded allowed limit of 3 (errno 1153) (sqlstate HY000)"},
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range testCases {
diff --git a/go/vt/vtgate/scatter_conn.go b/go/vt/vtgate/scatter_conn.go
index 5e7387b6818..b8b947465f6 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtgate/scatter_conn.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtgate/scatter_conn.go
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ func (stc *ScatterConn) ExecuteMultiShard(
 	)
 
 	if !ignoreMaxMemoryRows && len(qr.Rows) > *maxMemoryRows {
-		return nil, []error{vterrors.Errorf(vtrpcpb.Code_RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED, "in-memory row count exceeded allowed limit of %d", *maxMemoryRows)}
+		return nil, []error{mysql.NewSQLError(mysql.ERNetPacketTooLarge, "", "in-memory row count exceeded allowed limit of %d", *maxMemoryRows)}
 	}
 
 	return qr, allErrors.GetErrors()