diff --git a/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp b/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp
index 9afcda45782..89f78d3678f 100644
--- a/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp
+++ b/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp
@@ -429,6 +429,8 @@ static UniValue CallRPC(BaseRequestHandler* rh, const std::string& strMethod, co
         } else {
             throw std::runtime_error("Authorization failed: Incorrect rpcuser or rpcpassword");
         }
+    } else if (response.status == HTTP_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE) {
+        throw std::runtime_error(strprintf("Server response: %s", response.body));
     } else if (response.status >= 400 && response.status != HTTP_BAD_REQUEST && response.status != HTTP_NOT_FOUND && response.status != HTTP_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR)
         throw std::runtime_error(strprintf("server returned HTTP error %d", response.status));
     else if (response.body.empty())
diff --git a/src/httpserver.cpp b/src/httpserver.cpp
index 1e5ea2de832..2a5ce18893e 100644
--- a/src/httpserver.cpp
+++ b/src/httpserver.cpp
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ static void http_request_cb(struct evhttp_request* req, void* arg)
             item.release(); /* if true, queue took ownership */
         else {
             LogPrintf("WARNING: request rejected because http work queue depth exceeded, it can be increased with the -rpcworkqueue= setting\n");
-            item->req->WriteReply(HTTP_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, "Work queue depth exceeded");
+            item->req->WriteReply(HTTP_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE, "Work queue depth exceeded");
         }
     } else {
         hreq->WriteReply(HTTP_NOT_FOUND);