diff --git a/src/pylorax/api/dnfbase.py b/src/pylorax/api/dnfbase.py
index d7f3e200..c551ccad 100644
--- a/src/pylorax/api/dnfbase.py
+++ b/src/pylorax/api/dnfbase.py
@@ -82,7 +82,11 @@ def get_base_object(conf):
 
     # Update the metadata from the enabled repos to speed up later operations
     log.info("Updating repository metadata")
-    dbo.fill_sack(load_system_repo=False)
-    dbo.read_comps()
+    try:
+        dbo.fill_sack(load_system_repo=False)
+        dbo.read_comps()
+    except dnf.exceptions.Error as e:
+        log.error("Failed to update metadata: %s", str(e))
+        raise RuntimeError("Fetching metadata failed: %s" % str(e))
 
     return dbo
diff --git a/src/sbin/lorax-composer b/src/sbin/lorax-composer
index 41cba588..0cb65bc2 100755
--- a/src/sbin/lorax-composer
+++ b/src/sbin/lorax-composer
@@ -245,7 +245,11 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     make_dnf_dirs(server.config["COMPOSER_CFG"])
 
     # Get a dnf.Base to share with the requests
-    dbo = get_base_object(server.config["COMPOSER_CFG"])
+    try:
+        dbo = get_base_object(server.config["COMPOSER_CFG"])
+    except RuntimeError:
+        # Error has already been logged. Just exit cleanly.
+        sys.exit(1)
     server.config["DNFLOCK"] = DNFLock(dbo=dbo, lock=Lock())
 
     # Depsolve the templates and make a note of the failures for /api/status to report