diff --git a/imagegw/shifter_imagegw/dockerv2_ext.py b/imagegw/shifter_imagegw/dockerv2_ext.py
index 85269172..aa2ccb91 100644
--- a/imagegw/shifter_imagegw/dockerv2_ext.py
+++ b/imagegw/shifter_imagegw/dockerv2_ext.py
@@ -106,7 +106,10 @@ def _inspect(self):
         stdout, stderr = process.communicate()
         stderr_str = stderr.decode("utf-8")
         auth_errors = ['authentication', 'forbidden', 'unauthorized']
+        # see if we got some type of unauthorized response
         if not any(a_err in stderr_str.lower() for a_err in auth_errors):
+            # See if it exited with an error
+            if process.returncode:
                 raise OSError("Skopeo inspect failed: %s" % (stderr_str))
             return json.loads(stdout.decode("utf-8"))