diff --git a/app/controllers/api/v0/github_repos_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/v0/github_repos_controller.rb
index e864afa43..6afc1ab67 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/v0/github_repos_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/v0/github_repos_controller.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module Api
   module V0
-    class GithubReposController < ApplicationController
+    class GithubReposController < ApiController
       def index
         client = create_octokit_client
         existing_user_repos = GithubRepo.
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ module Api
           repo.selected = existing_user_repos.include?(repo.id)
           repo
         end
+      rescue Octokit::Unauthorized => e
+        render json: { error: "Github Unauthorized: #{e.message}", status: 401 }, status: :unauthorized
       end
 
       def update_or_create
diff --git a/spec/requests/api/v0/github_repos_spec.rb b/spec/requests/api/v0/github_repos_spec.rb
index fe1f593d8..f3d73f2f6 100644
--- a/spec/requests/api/v0/github_repos_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/api/v0/github_repos_spec.rb
@@ -19,6 +19,13 @@ RSpec.describe "Api::V0::GithubRepos", type: :request do
       get "/api/github_repos"
       expect(response).to have_http_status(:ok)
     end
+
+    it "returns 401 if github raises an unauthorized error" do
+      allow(Octokit::Client).to receive(:new).and_raise(Octokit::Unauthorized)
+      get "/api/github_repos"
+      expect(response).to have_http_status(:unauthorized)
+      expect(response.parsed_body["error"]).to include("Github Unauthorized")
+    end
   end
 
   describe "POST /api/v0/github_repos/update_or_create" do