diff --git a/api/internal/target/kusttarget.go b/api/internal/target/kusttarget.go
index 30dbbde89..07fe5213c 100644
--- a/api/internal/target/kusttarget.go
+++ b/api/internal/target/kusttarget.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/internal/plugins/loader"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/internal/utils"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/konfig"
+	load "sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/loader"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/resmap"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/resource"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/types"
@@ -392,6 +393,10 @@ func (kt *KustTarget) accumulateResources(
 	for _, path := range paths {
 		// try loading resource as file then as base (directory or git repository)
 		if errF := kt.accumulateFile(ra, path, origin); errF != nil {
+			// not much we can do if the error is an HTTP error so we bail out
+			if errors.Is(errF, load.ErrorHTTP) {
+				return nil, errF
+			}
 			ldr, err := kt.ldr.New(path)
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, errors.Wrapf(
diff --git a/api/krusty/remoteload_test.go b/api/krusty/remoteload_test.go
index 04f87dd0b..081c0c301 100644
--- a/api/krusty/remoteload_test.go
+++ b/api/krusty/remoteload_test.go
@@ -4,12 +4,15 @@
 package krusty_test
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/internal/utils"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/krusty"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/api/loader"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kyaml/filesys"
 )
 
@@ -74,6 +77,31 @@ spec:
 	assert.NoError(t, fSys.RemoveAll(tmpDir.String()))
 }
 
+func TestRemoteResourceWithHTTPError(t *testing.T) {
+	fSys := filesys.MakeFsOnDisk()
+	b := krusty.MakeKustomizer(krusty.MakeDefaultOptions())
+	tmpDir, err := filesys.NewTmpConfirmedDir()
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	url404 := "https://github.com/thisisa404.yaml"
+	kusto := filepath.Join(tmpDir.String(), "kustomization.yaml")
+	assert.NoError(t, fSys.WriteFile(kusto, []byte(fmt.Sprintf(`
+resources:
+- %s
+`, url404))))
+
+	_, err = b.Run(fSys, tmpDir.String())
+	if utils.IsErrTimeout(err) {
+		// Don't fail on timeouts.
+		t.SkipNow()
+	}
+
+	httpErr := fmt.Errorf("%w: status code %d (%s)", loader.ErrorHTTP, 404, http.StatusText(404))
+	accuFromErr := fmt.Errorf("accumulating resources from '%s': %w", url404, httpErr)
+	expectedErr := fmt.Errorf("accumulating resources: %w", accuFromErr)
+	assert.EqualErrorf(t, err, expectedErr.Error(), url404)
+}
+
 func TestRemoteResourceAnnoOrigin(t *testing.T) {
 	fSys := filesys.MakeFsOnDisk()
 	b := krusty.MakeKustomizer(krusty.MakeDefaultOptions())
diff --git a/api/loader/errors.go b/api/loader/errors.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5281a1cd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/loader/errors.go
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+package loader
+
+import "fmt"
+
+var ErrorHTTP = fmt.Errorf("HTTP Error")
diff --git a/api/loader/fileloader.go b/api/loader/fileloader.go
index 92bfc3f69..4426097cf 100644
--- a/api/loader/fileloader.go
+++ b/api/loader/fileloader.go
@@ -313,6 +313,9 @@ func (fl *fileLoader) Load(path string) ([]byte, error) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		defer resp.Body.Close()
+		if resp.StatusCode < 200 || resp.StatusCode > 299 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: status code %d (%s)", ErrorHTTP, resp.StatusCode, http.StatusText(resp.StatusCode))
+		}
 		body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(resp.Body)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err