diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.test.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.test.ts
index 1174276672..dc8e3eb0ee 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.test.ts
@@ -396,7 +396,9 @@ describe('publish:gitlab', () => {
 
   it('should show proper error message when token has insufficient permissions or namespace not found', async () => {
     mockGitlabClient.Namespaces.show.mockRejectedValue({
-      message: '404 Namespace Not Found',
+      response: {
+        statusCode: 404,
+      },
     });
     const owner = 'infrastructure/devex';
     const repoName = 'backstage';
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.ts
index 2b782f2d75..a7da0555e2 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.ts
@@ -183,9 +183,11 @@ export function createPublishGitlabAction(options: {
 
         targetNamespaceId = namespaceResponse.id;
       } catch (e) {
-        throw new InputError(
-          `The namespace ${owner} is not found or the user doesn't have permissions to access it`,
-        );
+        if (e.response && e.response.statusCode === 404) {
+          throw new InputError(
+            `The namespace ${owner} is not found or the user doesn't have permissions to access it`,
+          );
+        }
       }
 
       const { id: userId } = (await client.Users.current()) as {