diff --git a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Writer/Xls/Worksheet.php b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Writer/Xls/Worksheet.php
index d8822d80..baa45345 100644
--- a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Writer/Xls/Worksheet.php
+++ b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Writer/Xls/Worksheet.php
@@ -441,7 +441,29 @@ class Worksheet extends BIFFwriter
                     case DataType::TYPE_FORMULA:
                         $calculatedValue = $this->preCalculateFormulas ?
                             $cell->getCalculatedValue() : null;
-                        $this->writeFormula($row, $column, $cVal, $xfIndex, $calculatedValue);
+                        if (self::WRITE_FORMULA_EXCEPTION == $this->writeFormula($row, $column, $cVal, $xfIndex, $calculatedValue)) {
+                            if ($calculatedValue === null) {
+                                $calculatedValue = $cell->getCalculatedValue();
+                            }
+                            $calctype = gettype($calculatedValue);
+                            switch ($calctype) {
+                                case 'integer':
+                                case 'double':
+                                    $this->writeNumber($row, $column, $calculatedValue, $xfIndex);
+
+                                    break;
+                                case 'string':
+                                    $this->writeString($row, $column, $calculatedValue, $xfIndex);
+
+                                    break;
+                                case 'boolean':
+                                    $this->writeBoolErr($row, $column, $calculatedValue, 0, $xfIndex);
+
+                                    break;
+                                default:
+                                    $this->writeString($row, $column, $cVal, $xfIndex);
+                            }
+                        }
 
                         break;
                     case DataType::TYPE_BOOL:
@@ -764,14 +786,20 @@ class Worksheet extends BIFFwriter
         return 0;
     }
 
+    const WRITE_FORMULA_NORMAL = 0;
+    const WRITE_FORMULA_ERRORS = -1;
+    const WRITE_FORMULA_RANGE = -2;
+    const WRITE_FORMULA_EXCEPTION = -3;
+
     /**
      * Write a formula to the specified row and column (zero indexed).
      * The textual representation of the formula is passed to the parser in
      * Parser.php which returns a packed binary string.
      *
-     * Returns  0 : normal termination
-     *         -1 : formula errors (bad formula)
-     *         -2 : row or column out of range
+     * Returns  0 : WRITE_FORMULA_NORMAL  normal termination
+     *         -1 : WRITE_FORMULA_ERRORS formula errors (bad formula)
+     *         -2 : WRITE_FORMULA_RANGE  row or column out of range
+     *         -3 : WRITE_FORMULA_EXCEPTION parse raised exception, probably due to definedname
      *
      * @param int $row Zero indexed row
      * @param int $col Zero indexed column
@@ -829,7 +857,7 @@ class Worksheet extends BIFFwriter
             // Error handling
             $this->writeString($row, $col, 'Unrecognised character for formula', 0);
 
-            return -1;
+            return self::WRITE_FORMULA_ERRORS;
         }
 
         // Parse the formula using the parser in Parser.php
@@ -852,9 +880,9 @@ class Worksheet extends BIFFwriter
                 $this->writeStringRecord($stringValue);
             }
 
-            return 0;
+            return self::WRITE_FORMULA_NORMAL;
         } catch (PhpSpreadsheetException $e) {
-            // do nothing
+            return self::WRITE_FORMULA_EXCEPTION;
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Writer/Xls/FormulaErrTest.php b/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Writer/Xls/FormulaErrTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2c615b72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Writer/Xls/FormulaErrTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheetTests\Writer\Xls\Workbook;
+
+use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\IOFactory;
+use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\NamedRange;
+use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Shared\File;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+
+class FormulaErrTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public function tearDown()
+    {
+        $filename = tempnam(File::sysGetTempDir(), 'phpspreadsheet-test');
+        if (file_exists($filename)) {
+            unlink($filename);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public function testFormulaError()
+    {
+        $obj = new \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Spreadsheet();
+        $sheet0 = $obj->setActiveSheetIndex(0);
+        $sheet0->setCellValue('A1', 2);
+        $obj->addNamedRange(new NamedRange('DEFNAM', $sheet0, 'A1'));
+        $sheet0->setCellValue('B1', '=2*DEFNAM');
+        $sheet0->setCellValue('C1', '=DEFNAM=2');
+        $sheet0->setCellValue('D1', '=CONCAT("X",DEFNAM)');
+        $writer = IOFactory::createWriter($obj, 'Xls');
+        $filename = tempnam(File::sysGetTempDir(), 'phpspreadsheet-test');
+        $writer->save($filename);
+        $reader = IOFactory::createReader('Xls');
+        $robj = $reader->load($filename);
+        $sheet0 = $robj->setActiveSheetIndex(0);
+        $a1 = $sheet0->getCell('A1')->getCalculatedValue();
+        self::assertEquals(2, $a1);
+        $b1 = $sheet0->getCell('B1')->getCalculatedValue();
+        self::assertEquals(4, $b1);
+        $c1 = $sheet0->getCell('C1')->getCalculatedValue();
+        $tru = true;
+        self::assertEquals($tru, $c1);
+        $d1 = $sheet0->getCell('D1')->getCalculatedValue();
+        self::assertEquals('X2', $d1);
+    }
+}