diff --git a/src/libutil/error.hh b/src/libutil/error.hh
index 4b08a045e..1fe98077e 100644
--- a/src/libutil/error.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/error.hh
@@ -127,6 +127,8 @@ protected:
 
 public:
     BaseError(const BaseError &) = default;
+    BaseError& operator=(const BaseError &) = default;
+    BaseError& operator=(BaseError &&) = default;
 
     template<typename... Args>
     BaseError(unsigned int status, const Args & ... args)