diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 12f4b92ef..74d6e5e5a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Fixed
 - Fixed line numbers being selectable in Safari in the lightweight code highlighter. [#1037](https://github.com/sourcebot-dev/sourcebot/pull/1037)
+- Fixed GitLab sync deleting repos when the API returns a non-404 error (e.g. 500) during group/user/project fetch. [#1039](https://github.com/sourcebot-dev/sourcebot/pull/1039)
 
 ### Added
 - Added optional copy button to the lightweight code highlighter (`isCopyButtonVisible` prop), shown on hover. [#1037](https://github.com/sourcebot-dev/sourcebot/pull/1037)
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/gitlab.ts b/packages/backend/src/gitlab.ts
index 0d74c44a2..94a6e0710 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/gitlab.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/gitlab.ts
@@ -96,17 +96,15 @@ export const getGitLabReposFromConfig = async (config: GitlabConnectionConfig) =
                 Sentry.captureException(e);
                 logger.error(`Failed to fetch projects for group ${group}.`, e);
 
-                const status = e?.cause?.response?.status;
-                if (status !== undefined) {
-                    const warning = `GitLab API returned ${status}`
+                if (e?.cause?.response?.status === 404) {
+                    const warning = `Group ${group} not found or no access`;
                     logger.warn(warning);
                     return {
                         type: 'warning' as const,
                         warning
-                    }
+                    };
                 }
 
-                logger.error("No API response status returned");
                 throw e;
             }
         }));
@@ -136,17 +134,15 @@ export const getGitLabReposFromConfig = async (config: GitlabConnectionConfig) =
                 Sentry.captureException(e);
                 logger.error(`Failed to fetch projects for user ${user}.`, e);
 
-                const status = e?.cause?.response?.status;
-                if (status !== undefined) {
-                    const warning = `GitLab API returned ${status}`
+                if (e?.cause?.response?.status === 404) {
+                    const warning = `User ${user} not found or no access`;
                     logger.warn(warning);
                     return {
                         type: 'warning' as const,
                         warning
-                    }
+                    };
                 }
 
-                logger.error("No API response status returned");
                 throw e;
             }
         }));
@@ -174,17 +170,15 @@ export const getGitLabReposFromConfig = async (config: GitlabConnectionConfig) =
                 Sentry.captureException(e);
                 logger.error(`Failed to fetch project ${project}.`, e);
 
-                const status = e?.cause?.response?.status;
-                if (status !== undefined) {
-                    const warning = `GitLab API returned ${status}`
+                if (e?.cause?.response?.status === 404) {
+                    const warning = `Project ${project} not found or no access`;
                     logger.warn(warning);
                     return {
                         type: 'warning' as const,
                         warning
-                    }
+                    };
                 }
 
-                logger.error("No API response status returned");
                 throw e;
             }
         }));