diff --git a/src/rubrix/client/api.py b/src/rubrix/client/api.py
index 5fe65bbd15..7193607cb4 100644
--- a/src/rubrix/client/api.py
+++ b/src/rubrix/client/api.py
@@ -149,8 +149,10 @@ def __init__(
         self._agent = _RubrixLogAgent(self)
 
     def __del__(self):
-        del self._client
-        del self._agent
+        if hasattr(self,"_client"):
+            del self._client
+        if hasattr(self,"_agent"):
+            del self._agent
 
     @property
     def client(self):
diff --git a/src/rubrix/client/sdk/client.py b/src/rubrix/client/sdk/client.py
index 6d529053eb..87fafa10c8 100644
--- a/src/rubrix/client/sdk/client.py
+++ b/src/rubrix/client/sdk/client.py
@@ -13,12 +13,14 @@
 #  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 #  limitations under the License.
 import dataclasses
+import functools
 from typing import Dict, TypeVar
 
 import httpx
 
 from rubrix._constants import API_KEY_HEADER_NAME
 from rubrix.client.sdk._helpers import build_raw_response
+from rubrix.client.sdk.commons.errors import RubrixClientError
 
 
 @dataclasses.dataclass
@@ -72,6 +74,18 @@ def __del__(self):
     def __hash__(self):
         return hash(self.base_url)
 
+    def with_httpx_error_handler(func):
+        @functools.wraps(func)
+        def inner(self, *args, **kwargs):
+            try:
+                result = func(self, *args, **kwargs)
+                return result
+            except httpx.ConnectError as err:
+                err_str = f"Your Api endpoint at {self.base_url} is not available or not responding."
+                raise RubrixClientError(err_str) from None
+        return inner
+
+    @with_httpx_error_handler
     def get(self, path: str, *args, **kwargs):
         path = self._normalize_path(path)
         response = self.__httpx__.get(
@@ -82,6 +96,7 @@ def get(self, path: str, *args, **kwargs):
         )
         return build_raw_response(response).parsed
 
+    @with_httpx_error_handler
     def post(self, path: str, *args, **kwargs):
         path = self._normalize_path(path)
 
@@ -93,6 +108,7 @@ def post(self, path: str, *args, **kwargs):
         )
         return build_raw_response(response).parsed
 
+    @with_httpx_error_handler
     def put(self, path: str, *args, **kwargs):
         path = self._normalize_path(path)
         response = self.__httpx__.put(
@@ -103,6 +119,7 @@ def put(self, path: str, *args, **kwargs):
         )
         return build_raw_response(response).parsed
 
+    @with_httpx_error_handler
     def stream(self, path: str, *args, **kwargs):
         return self.__httpx__.stream(
             url=path,
diff --git a/src/rubrix/server/server.py b/src/rubrix/server/server.py
index d5f316cfc0..d561168685 100644
--- a/src/rubrix/server/server.py
+++ b/src/rubrix/server/server.py
@@ -27,7 +27,10 @@
 
 from rubrix import __version__ as rubrix_version
 from rubrix.logging import configure_logging
-from rubrix.server.daos.backend.elasticsearch import ElasticsearchBackend
+from rubrix.server.daos.backend.elasticsearch import (
+    ElasticsearchBackend,
+    GenericSearchError,
+)
 from rubrix.server.daos.datasets import DatasetsDAO
 from rubrix.server.daos.records import DatasetRecordsDAO
 from rubrix.server.errors import APIErrorHandler, EntityNotFoundError
@@ -86,8 +89,6 @@ def configure_app_statics(app: FastAPI):
 def configure_app_storage(app: FastAPI):
     @app.on_event("startup")
     async def configure_elasticsearch():
-        import opensearchpy
-
         try:
             es_wrapper = ElasticsearchBackend.get_instance()
             dataset_records: DatasetRecordsDAO = DatasetRecordsDAO(es_wrapper)
@@ -96,7 +97,7 @@ async def configure_elasticsearch():
             )
             datasets.init()
             dataset_records.init()
-        except opensearchpy.exceptions.ConnectionError as error:
+        except GenericSearchError as error:
             raise ConfigError(
                 f"Your Elasticsearch endpoint at {settings.obfuscated_elasticsearch()} "
                 "is not available or not responding.\n"
diff --git a/tests/client/sdk/users/test_api.py b/tests/client/sdk/users/test_api.py
index 2c77c92fee..401fd5fd7a 100644
--- a/tests/client/sdk/users/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/client/sdk/users/test_api.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 from rubrix._constants import DEFAULT_API_KEY
 from rubrix.client.sdk.client import AuthenticatedClient
-from rubrix.client.sdk.commons.errors import UnauthorizedApiError
+from rubrix.client.sdk.commons.errors import RubrixClientError, UnauthorizedApiError
 from rubrix.client.sdk.users.api import whoami
 from rubrix.client.sdk.users.models import User
 
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ def test_whoami_with_auth_error(monkeypatch, mocked_client):
 
 
 def test_whoami_with_connection_error():
-    with pytest.raises(httpx.ConnectError):
+    with pytest.raises(RubrixClientError):
         whoami(
             AuthenticatedClient(base_url="http://localhost:6900", token="wrong-apikey")
         )