diff --git a/clients/java/signalr/src/main/java/com/microsoft/aspnet/signalr/HubConnection.java b/clients/java/signalr/src/main/java/com/microsoft/aspnet/signalr/HubConnection.java
index 9c6f72fae4..97dcc5d412 100644
--- a/clients/java/signalr/src/main/java/com/microsoft/aspnet/signalr/HubConnection.java
+++ b/clients/java/signalr/src/main/java/com/microsoft/aspnet/signalr/HubConnection.java
@@ -137,6 +137,9 @@ public class HubConnection {
         request.setHeaders(this.headers);
 
         return httpClient.post(Negotiate.resolveNegotiateUrl(url), request).thenCompose((response) -> {
+            if (response.getStatusCode() != 200) {
+                throw new RuntimeException(String.format("Unexpected status code returned from negotiate: %d %s.", response.getStatusCode(), response.getStatusText()));
+            }
             NegotiateResponse negotiateResponse;
             try {
                 negotiateResponse = new NegotiateResponse(response.getContent());
diff --git a/clients/java/signalr/src/test/java/com/microsoft/aspnet/signalr/HubConnectionTest.java b/clients/java/signalr/src/test/java/com/microsoft/aspnet/signalr/HubConnectionTest.java
index 0813066e46..f9f1dfa2c8 100644
--- a/clients/java/signalr/src/test/java/com/microsoft/aspnet/signalr/HubConnectionTest.java
+++ b/clients/java/signalr/src/test/java/com/microsoft/aspnet/signalr/HubConnectionTest.java
@@ -1064,4 +1064,21 @@ class HubConnectionTest {
         hubConnection.stop().get(1000, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
         assertEquals(HubConnectionState.DISCONNECTED, hubConnection.getConnectionState());
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void non200FromNegotiateThrowsError() {
+        TestHttpClient client = new TestHttpClient()
+                .on("POST", "http://example.com/negotiate",
+                        (req) -> CompletableFuture
+                                .completedFuture(new HttpResponse(500, "Internal server error", "")));
+
+        MockTransport transport = new MockTransport();
+        HttpConnectionOptions options = new HttpConnectionOptions();
+        options.setTransport(transport);
+        HubConnection hubConnection = new HubConnectionBuilder().withUrl("http://example.com", options)
+                .configureHttpClient(client).build();
+
+        ExecutionException exception = assertThrows(ExecutionException.class, () -> hubConnection.start().get(1000, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS));
+        assertEquals("Unexpected status code returned from negotiate: 500 Internal server error.", exception.getCause().getMessage());
+    }
 }
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