diff --git a/bookwyrm/books_manager.py b/bookwyrm/books_manager.py
index 3b865768..bc1fa723 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/books_manager.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/books_manager.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ from urllib.parse import urlparse
 from requests import HTTPError
 
 from bookwyrm import models
+from bookwyrm.connectors import ConnectorException
 from bookwyrm.tasks import app
 
 
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ def search(query, min_confidence=0.1):
     for connector in get_connectors():
         try:
             result_set = connector.search(query, min_confidence=min_confidence)
-        except HTTPError:
+        except (HTTPError, ConnectorException):
             continue
 
         result_set = [r for r in result_set \
diff --git a/bookwyrm/connectors/abstract_connector.py b/bookwyrm/connectors/abstract_connector.py
index ce1184d8..221c59c0 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/connectors/abstract_connector.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/connectors/abstract_connector.py
@@ -46,7 +46,10 @@ class AbstractMinimalConnector(ABC):
         )
         if not resp.ok:
             resp.raise_for_status()
-        data = resp.json()
+        try:
+            data = resp.json()
+        except ValueError as e:
+            raise ConnectorException('Unable to parse json response', e)
         results = []
 
         for doc in self.parse_search_data(data)[:10]: