diff --git a/pkl-core/src/main/java/org/pkl/core/project/ProjectPackager.java b/pkl-core/src/main/java/org/pkl/core/project/ProjectPackager.java
index 14552461..d65889b6 100644
--- a/pkl-core/src/main/java/org/pkl/core/project/ProjectPackager.java
+++ b/pkl-core/src/main/java/org/pkl/core/project/ProjectPackager.java
@@ -185,8 +185,14 @@ public class ProjectPackager {
                 receivedChecksum));
       }
     } catch (PackageLoadError e) {
-      if (e.getMessageName().equals("badHttpStatusCode") && (int) e.getArguments()[0] == 404) {
-        return;
+      if (e.getMessageName().equals("badHttpStatusCode")) {
+        if ((int) e.getArguments()[0] == 404) {
+          return;
+        } else {
+          throw new PklException(
+              ErrorMessages.create(
+                  "unableToAccessPublishPackage", pkg.getPackageZipUrl(), e.getArguments()[0]));
+        }
       }
       throw e;
     } catch (SecurityManagerException e) {
diff --git a/pkl-core/src/main/resources/org/pkl/core/errorMessages.properties b/pkl-core/src/main/resources/org/pkl/core/errorMessages.properties
index 16157d21..c954439f 100644
--- a/pkl-core/src/main/resources/org/pkl/core/errorMessages.properties
+++ b/pkl-core/src/main/resources/org/pkl/core/errorMessages.properties
@@ -1020,6 +1020,9 @@ Published checksum: {2}\n\
 \n\
 This likely means that you need to bump the package\'s version.
 
+unableToAccessPublishPackage=\
+Cannot access `{0}`. Got error code `{1}`. Unable to version package contents
+
 unexpectedPackageLoadError=\
 Unexpected error resolving packages for project {0}.\n\
 \n\