diff --git a/magnolia-dam-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/dam/core/download/DamDownloadServlet.java b/magnolia-dam-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/dam/core/download/DamDownloadServlet.java
index f24e2bc..7fd1079 100644
--- a/magnolia-dam-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/dam/core/download/DamDownloadServlet.java
+++ b/magnolia-dam-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/dam/core/download/DamDownloadServlet.java
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 import info.magnolia.dam.api.PathAwareAssetProvider;
 import info.magnolia.dam.api.PathAwareAssetProvider.PathNotFoundException;
 import info.magnolia.dam.core.config.DamCoreConfiguration;
+import info.magnolia.jcr.RuntimeRepositoryException;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
@@ -102,6 +103,9 @@
     protected void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException {
         try {
             process(request, response);
+        } catch (RuntimeRepositoryException e) {
+            response.sendError(HttpServletResponse.SC_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR);
+            log.error("error during download", e);
         } catch (Exception e) {
             log.error("error during download", e);
         }