diff --git a/awx/main/credential_plugins/conjur.py b/awx/main/credential_plugins/conjur.py
index 5510667d4c..83232cccac 100644
--- a/awx/main/credential_plugins/conjur.py
+++ b/awx/main/credential_plugins/conjur.py
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ def conjur_backend(**kwargs):
         auth_kwargs['verify'] = cert
         try:
             resp = requests.post(urljoin(url, '/'.join(['authn', account, username, 'authenticate'])), **auth_kwargs)
-        except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError:
+            resp.raise_for_status()
+        except requests.exceptions.HTTPError:
             resp = requests.post(urljoin(url, '/'.join(['api', 'authn', account, username, 'authenticate'])), **auth_kwargs)
     raise_for_status(resp)
     token = resp.content.decode('utf-8')
@@ -92,7 +93,8 @@ def conjur_backend(**kwargs):
         lookup_kwargs['verify'] = cert
         try:
             resp = requests.get(path, timeout=30, **lookup_kwargs)
-        except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError:
+            resp.raise_for_status()
+        except requests.exceptions.HTTPError:
             resp = requests.get(path_conjurcloud, timeout=30, **lookup_kwargs)
     raise_for_status(resp)
     return resp.text