diff --git a/src/axolotl/cli/checks.py b/src/axolotl/cli/checks.py
index 10086c2a4..a743e74dc 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/cli/checks.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/cli/checks.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 from accelerate.commands.config import config_args
 from huggingface_hub import HfApi
 from huggingface_hub.utils import LocalTokenNotFoundError
+from requests import HTTPError
 
 from axolotl.utils.logging import get_logger
 
@@ -46,3 +47,8 @@ def check_user_token() -> bool:
             "Error verifying HuggingFace token. Remember to log in using `huggingface-cli login` and get your access token from https://huggingface.co/settings/tokens if you want to use gated models or datasets."
         )
         return False
+    except HTTPError:
+        LOG.warning(
+            "Error accessing HuggingFace. This may be due to a network issue or rate limiting."
+        )
+        return False