diff --git a/crates/nu-command/src/network/fetch.rs b/crates/nu-command/src/network/fetch.rs
index 3f57b5222..ed2f5542c 100644
--- a/crates/nu-command/src/network/fetch.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-command/src/network/fetch.rs
@@ -450,7 +450,8 @@ fn helper(
         }
     }
 
-    match request.send() {
+    // Explicitly turn 4xx and 5xx statuses into errors.
+    match request.send().and_then(|r| r.error_for_status()) {
         Ok(resp) => match resp.headers().get("content-type") {
             Some(content_type) => {
                 let content_type = content_type.to_str().map_err(|e| {
diff --git a/crates/nu-command/src/network/post.rs b/crates/nu-command/src/network/post.rs
index bdb486687..5c64c13fd 100644
--- a/crates/nu-command/src/network/post.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-command/src/network/post.rs
@@ -304,7 +304,8 @@ fn helper(
         }
     }
 
-    match request.send() {
+    // Explicitly turn 4xx and 5xx statuses into errors.
+    match request.send().and_then(|r| r.error_for_status()) {
         Ok(resp) => match resp.headers().get("content-type") {
             Some(content_type) => {
                 let content_type = content_type.to_str().map_err(|e| {