diff --git a/.changeset/stale-jobs-tease.md b/.changeset/stale-jobs-tease.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e62f87afe7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/stale-jobs-tease.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-techdocs-backend': patch
+---
+
+Change the response status of metadata endpoints in case a documentation is not
+available to `404 NOT FOUND`. This also introduces the JSON based error messages
+used by other backends.
diff --git a/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/helpers.test.ts b/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/helpers.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 507373107d..0000000000
--- a/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/helpers.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2020 Spotify AB
- *
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-import { getEntityNameFromUrlPath } from './helpers';
-
-describe('getEntityNameFromUrlPath', () => {
-  it('should parse correctly', () => {
-    const path = 'default/Component/documented-component';
-    const parsedEntity = getEntityNameFromUrlPath(path);
-    expect(parsedEntity).toHaveProperty('namespace', 'default');
-    expect(parsedEntity).toHaveProperty('kind', 'Component');
-    expect(parsedEntity).toHaveProperty('name', 'documented-component');
-  });
-});
diff --git a/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/helpers.ts b/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/helpers.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index fc80ab717d..0000000000
--- a/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/helpers.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2020 Spotify AB
- *
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-import { EntityName } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
-/**
- * Using the path of the TechDocs page URL, return a structured EntityName type object with namespace,
- * kind and name of the Entity.
- * @param {string} path Example: default/Component/documented-component
- */
-export const getEntityNameFromUrlPath = (path: string): EntityName => {
-  const [namespace, kind, name] = path.split('/');
-
-  return {
-    namespace,
-    kind,
-    name,
-  };
-};
diff --git a/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/router.ts b/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/router.ts
index 9456e8a277..121ddddef5 100644
--- a/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/router.ts
+++ b/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/router.ts
@@ -14,8 +14,9 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 import { PluginEndpointDiscovery } from '@backstage/backend-common';
-import { Entity } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
+import { Entity, stringifyEntityRef } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import { Config } from '@backstage/config';
+import { NotFoundError } from '@backstage/errors';
 import {
   GeneratorBuilder,
   getLocationForEntity,
@@ -30,8 +31,6 @@ import { Knex } from 'knex';
 import { Logger } from 'winston';
 import { DocsBuilder } from '../DocsBuilder';
 import { shouldCheckForUpdate } from '../DocsBuilder/BuildMetadataStorage';
-import { getEntityNameFromUrlPath } from './helpers';
-import { NotFoundError } from '@backstage/errors';
 
 type RouterOptions = {
   preparers: PreparerBuilder;
@@ -55,10 +54,9 @@ export async function createRouter({
 }: RouterOptions): Promise<express.Router> {
   const router = Router();
 
-  router.get('/metadata/techdocs/*', async (req, res) => {
-    // path is `:namespace/:kind:/:name`
-    const { '0': path } = req.params;
-    const entityName = getEntityNameFromUrlPath(path);
+  router.get('/metadata/techdocs/:namespace/:kind/:name', async (req, res) => {
+    const { kind, namespace, name } = req.params;
+    const entityName = { kind, namespace, name };
 
     try {
       const techdocsMetadata = await publisher.fetchTechDocsMetadata(
@@ -67,14 +65,15 @@ export async function createRouter({
 
       res.json(techdocsMetadata);
     } catch (err) {
-      logger.error(
-        `Unable to get metadata for ${entityName.namespace}/${entityName.name} with error ${err}`,
+      logger.info(
+        `Unable to get metadata for '${stringifyEntityRef(
+          entityName,
+        )}' with error ${err}`,
+      );
+      throw new NotFoundError(
+        `Unable to get metadata for '${stringifyEntityRef(entityName)}'`,
+        err,
       );
-      res
-        .status(500)
-        .send(
-          `Unable to get metadata for $${entityName.namespace}/${entityName.name}, reason: ${err}`,
-        );
     }
   });
 
@@ -82,9 +81,11 @@ export async function createRouter({
     const catalogUrl = await discovery.getBaseUrl('catalog');
 
     const { kind, namespace, name } = req.params;
+    const entityName = { kind, namespace, name };
 
     try {
       const token = getBearerToken(req.headers.authorization);
+      // TODO: Consider using the catalog client here
       const entity = (await (
         await fetch(
           `${catalogUrl}/entities/by-name/${kind}/${namespace}/${name}`,
@@ -98,10 +99,13 @@ export async function createRouter({
       res.json({ ...entity, locationMetadata });
     } catch (err) {
       logger.info(
-        `Unable to get metadata for ${kind}/${namespace}/${name} with error ${err}`,
+        `Unable to get metadata for '${stringifyEntityRef(
+          entityName,
+        )}' with error ${err}`,
       );
-      throw new Error(
-        `Unable to get metadata for ${kind}/${namespace}/${name} with error ${err}`,
+      throw new NotFoundError(
+        `Unable to get metadata for '${stringifyEntityRef(entityName)}'`,
+        err,
       );
     }
   });