diff --git a/src/aleph/services/ipfs/service.py b/src/aleph/services/ipfs/service.py
index 0c3cd33cf..68d62690e 100644
--- a/src/aleph/services/ipfs/service.py
+++ b/src/aleph/services/ipfs/service.py
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@ async def add_file(self, fileobject: IO):
             data.add_field("path", fileobject)
 
             resp = await session.post(url, data=data)
+            resp.raise_for_status()
             return await resp.json()
 
     async def sub(self, topic: str):