diff --git a/pycsw/server.py b/pycsw/server.py
index cb3fad13c..403c77119 100644
--- a/pycsw/server.py
+++ b/pycsw/server.py
@@ -425,6 +425,8 @@ def dispatch(self, writer=sys.stdout, write_headers=True):
                     except:
                         LOGGER.debug(f'Repository not loaded retry connection {max_attempts}')
                         max_attempts += 1
+                        if max_attempts == self.max_retries:
+                            raise
             except Exception as err:
                 msg = 'Could not load repository (local): %s' % err
                 LOGGER.exception(msg)