diff --git a/app/liquid_tags/github_tag/github_readme_tag.rb b/app/liquid_tags/github_tag/github_readme_tag.rb
index f7ef2c570..ff94f6698 100644
--- a/app/liquid_tags/github_tag/github_readme_tag.rb
+++ b/app/liquid_tags/github_tag/github_readme_tag.rb
@@ -4,38 +4,35 @@ class GithubTag
   class GithubReadmeTag
     PARTIAL = "liquids/github_readme".freeze
 
+    attr_reader :client, :content, :options, :readme_html
+
     def initialize(link)
-      @link = parse_link(link)
+      parsed_link = parse_link(link)
       @options = parse_options(link)
-      @content = get_content(@link)
+      @client = Octokit::Client.new(access_token: token)
+      @content = client.repository(parsed_link)
+      @readme_html = fetch_readme(parsed_link)
     end
 
     def render
       ActionController::Base.new.render_to_string(
         partial: PARTIAL,
         locals: {
-          content: @content,
-          show_readme: show_readme?,
-          updated_html: @updated_html
+          content: content,
+          show_readme: show_readme? && readme_html.present?,
+          readme_html: readme_html
         },
       )
     end
 
+    private
+
     def parse_link(link)
       link = sanitize_link(link)
-      link.split(" ").first.delete(" ")
-    end
+      parsed_link = link.split(" ").first.delete(" ")
+      raise_error if parsed_link.split("/").length > 2
 
-    def get_content(link)
-      repo_details = link.split("/")
-      raise_error if repo_details.length > 2
-      user_name = repo_details[0]
-      repo_name = repo_details[1]
-      client = Octokit::Client.new(access_token: token)
-      @readme_html = client.readme user_name + "/" + repo_name, accept: "application/vnd.github.html"
-      @readme = client.readme user_name + "/" + repo_name
-      @updated_html = clean_relative_path!(@readme_html, @readme.download_url)
-      client.repository(user_name + "/" + repo_name)
+      parsed_link
     end
 
     def valid_option(option)
@@ -53,10 +50,16 @@ class GithubTag
     end
 
     def show_readme?
-      @options.none? "no-readme"
+      options.none? "no-readme"
     end
 
-    private
+    def fetch_readme(link)
+      readme_html = client.readme(link, accept: "application/vnd.github.html")
+      readme = client.readme(link)
+      clean_relative_path!(readme_html, readme.download_url)
+    rescue Octokit::NotFound => _e
+      nil
+    end
 
     def sanitize_link(link)
       link = ActionController::Base.helpers.strip_tags(link)
diff --git a/app/views/liquids/_github_readme.html.erb b/app/views/liquids/_github_readme.html.erb
index 111654075..1cb5cfbe7 100644
--- a/app/views/liquids/_github_readme.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/liquids/_github_readme.html.erb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <div class="ltag-github-readme-tag">
   <div class="readme-overview">
     <h2>
-      <img src="<%= ActionController::Base.helpers.asset_path('github-logo.svg') %>" alt="GitHub logo">
+      <img src="<%= ActionController::Base.helpers.asset_path("github-logo.svg") %>" alt="GitHub logo">
       <a href="https://github.com/<%= content.owner.login %>">
         <%= content.owner.login %>
       </a> / <a style="font-weight: 600;" href="<%= content.html_url %>">
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
   </div>
   <% if show_readme %>
   <div class="ltag-github-body">
-    <p><%= (HTML_Truncator.truncate updated_html, 150).html_safe %></p>
+    <p><%= (HTML_Truncator.truncate readme_html, 150).html_safe %></p>
   </div>
   <div class="gh-btn-container"><a class="gh-btn" href="<%= content.html_url %>">View on GitHub</a></div>
   <% end %>
diff --git a/spec/liquid_tags/github_tag/github_readme_tag_spec.rb b/spec/liquid_tags/github_tag/github_readme_tag_spec.rb
index a41d079b9..4e23a9936 100644
--- a/spec/liquid_tags/github_tag/github_readme_tag_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/liquid_tags/github_tag/github_readme_tag_spec.rb
@@ -43,5 +43,14 @@ RSpec.describe GithubTag::GithubReadmeTag, type: :liquid_tag, vcr: vcr_option do
       readme_class = "ltag-github-body"
       expect(template).not_to include(readme_class)
     end
+
+    it "handles respositories with a missing README" do
+      allow(my_ocktokit_client).to receive(:readme).and_raise(Octokit::NotFound)
+
+      template = generate_github_readme(path, "no-readme").render
+      readme_class = "ltag-github-body"
+
+      expect(template).not_to include(readme_class)
+    end
   end
 end