diff --git a/egg-download.scm b/egg-download.scm
index 388fa35f..6d6b71fb 100644
--- a/egg-download.scm
+++ b/egg-download.scm
@@ -135,9 +135,11 @@
          (process-headers)
          (when chunked
            (d "reading chunks ")
-           (let ((data (read-chunks in)))
+           (let ((data (handle-exceptions _ #f (read-chunks in))))
              (close-input-port in)
-             (set! in (open-input-string data))) )
+              (if data
+                  (set! in (open-input-string data))
+                  (server-error "error reading chunks")) ) )
          (values in out datalen))
         (else (network-failure "invalid response from server" h1)))))))