diff --git a/lib/ohai/mixin/ec2_metadata.rb b/lib/ohai/mixin/ec2_metadata.rb
index 700b3f336..a09830863 100644
--- a/lib/ohai/mixin/ec2_metadata.rb
+++ b/lib/ohai/mixin/ec2_metadata.rb
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ def can_metadata_connect?(addr, port, timeout=2)
 
       def best_api_version
         response = http_client.get("/")
+        return nil if (response.code != '200')
         versions = response.body.split("\n")
         until (versions.empty? || EC2_SUPPORTED_VERSIONS.include?(versions.last)) do
           pv = versions.pop