diff --git a/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/gpt4all.py b/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/gpt4all.py
index 79d06f27..fc801782 100644
--- a/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/gpt4all.py
+++ b/gpt4all-bindings/python/gpt4all/gpt4all.py
@@ -113,7 +113,10 @@ class GPT4All:
         Returns:
             Model list in JSON format.
         """
-        return requests.get("https://gpt4all.io/models/models2.json").json()
+        resp = requests.get("https://gpt4all.io/models/models2.json")
+        if resp.status_code != 200:
+            raise ValueError(f'Request failed: HTTP {resp.status_code} {resp.reason}')
+        return resp.json()
 
     @staticmethod
     def retrieve_model(
@@ -215,6 +218,9 @@ class GPT4All:
         download_url = get_download_url(model_filename)
 
         response = requests.get(download_url, stream=True)
+        if response.status_code != 200:
+            raise ValueError(f'Request failed: HTTP {response.status_code} {response.reason}')
+
         total_size_in_bytes = int(response.headers.get("content-length", 0))
         block_size = 2**20  # 1 MB