diff --git a/iotbx/pdb/fetch.py b/iotbx/pdb/fetch.py
index 1c0f6000d6..0eb7afea4e 100644
--- a/iotbx/pdb/fetch.py
+++ b/iotbx/pdb/fetch.py
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ def fetch(id, entity='model_pdb', mirror="rcsb", emdb_number=None, link_template
   try :
     data = libtbx.utils.urlopen(url)
   except HTTPError as e :
-    if e.getcode() == 404 :
+    if e.getcode() == 404 or e.getcode() == 403 :
       raise RuntimeError("Couldn't download %s for %s at %s." % (entity, id, url))
     else :
       raise