diff --git a/inventree/api.py b/inventree/api.py
index 202e6831..a02f175e 100644
--- a/inventree/api.py
+++ b/inventree/api.py
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ def __init__(self, base_url, **kwargs):
         self.verbose = kwargs.get('verbose', False)
 
         # Check if the server is there
-        self.testServer()
+        if not self.testServer():
+            raise ConnectionRefusedError("Could not connect to InvenTree server")
 
         # Basic authentication
         self.auth = HTTPBasicAuth(self.username, self.password)