diff --git a/plugins/gist_tag.rb b/plugins/gist_tag.rb
index 5f590e9..43e7eb0 100644
--- a/plugins/gist_tag.rb
+++ b/plugins/gist_tag.rb
@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ module Jekyll
       https.verify_mode = OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE
       request           = Net::HTTP::Get.new raw_uri.request_uri
       data              = https.request request
+      if Integer(data.code) != 200
+          raise RuntimeError, "Gist replied with #{data.code} for #{gist_url}"
+      end
       data              = data.body
       cache gist, file, data unless @cache_disabled
       data