diff --git a/java/google/registry/tmch/Marksdb.java b/java/google/registry/tmch/Marksdb.java
index 17ae96a91..7afe5b459 100644
--- a/java/google/registry/tmch/Marksdb.java
+++ b/java/google/registry/tmch/Marksdb.java
@@ -115,7 +115,13 @@ public final class Marksdb {
   byte[] fetch(URL url, Optional<String> loginAndPassword) throws IOException {
     HTTPRequest req = new HTTPRequest(url, GET, validateCertificate().setDeadline(60d));
     setAuthorizationHeader(req, loginAndPassword);
-    HTTPResponse rsp = fetchService.fetch(req);
+    HTTPResponse rsp;
+    try {
+      rsp = fetchService.fetch(req);
+    } catch (IOException e) {
+      throw new IOException(
+          String.format("Error connecting to MarksDB at URL %s", url), e);
+    }
     if (rsp.getResponseCode() != SC_OK) {
       throw new UrlFetchException("Failed to fetch from MarksDB", req, rsp);
     }
diff --git a/java/google/registry/tmch/NordnUploadAction.java b/java/google/registry/tmch/NordnUploadAction.java
index 2af5261c6..ffe166542 100644
--- a/java/google/registry/tmch/NordnUploadAction.java
+++ b/java/google/registry/tmch/NordnUploadAction.java
@@ -191,7 +191,13 @@ public final class NordnUploadAction implements Runnable {
     HTTPRequest req = new HTTPRequest(new URL(url), POST, validateCertificate().setDeadline(60d));
     lordnRequestInitializer.initialize(req, tld);
     setPayloadMultipart(req, "file", "claims.csv", CSV_UTF_8, csvData, random);
-    HTTPResponse rsp = fetchService.fetch(req);
+    HTTPResponse rsp;
+    try {
+      rsp = fetchService.fetch(req);
+    } catch (IOException e) {
+      throw new IOException(
+          String.format("Error connecting to MarksDB at URL %s", url), e);
+    }
     if (logger.atInfo().isEnabled()) {
       String response =
           (rsp.getContent() == null) ? "(null)" : new String(rsp.getContent(), US_ASCII);
diff --git a/java/google/registry/tmch/NordnVerifyAction.java b/java/google/registry/tmch/NordnVerifyAction.java
index fb847852b..f35036780 100644
--- a/java/google/registry/tmch/NordnVerifyAction.java
+++ b/java/google/registry/tmch/NordnVerifyAction.java
@@ -98,7 +98,13 @@ public final class NordnVerifyAction implements Runnable {
     logger.atInfo().log("LORDN verify task %s: Sending request to URL %s.", actionLogId, url);
     HTTPRequest req = new HTTPRequest(url, GET, validateCertificate().setDeadline(60d));
     lordnRequestInitializer.initialize(req, tld);
-    HTTPResponse rsp = fetchService.fetch(req);
+    HTTPResponse rsp;
+    try {
+      rsp = fetchService.fetch(req);
+    } catch (IOException e) {
+      throw new IOException(
+          String.format("Error connecting to MarksDB at URL %s", url), e);
+    }
     logger.atInfo().log(
         "LORDN verify task %s response: HTTP response code %d, response data: %s",
         actionLogId, rsp.getResponseCode(), rsp.getContent());