diff --git a/src/main/java/org/molgenis/downloader/emx/EMXClient.java b/src/main/java/org/molgenis/downloader/emx/EMXClient.java
index 15ac648..5bb35fd 100755
--- a/src/main/java/org/molgenis/downloader/emx/EMXClient.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/molgenis/downloader/emx/EMXClient.java
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ public boolean downloadEMX(final List<String> entities, final Path path, final b
 				try (final EntityConsumer consumer = writer.createConsumerForEntity(molgenisClient.getEntity(name)))
 				{
 					molgenisClient.streamEntityData(name, consumer, pageSize);
+				}catch (final org.json.JSONException ex) {
+					writer.addException(new IllegalArgumentException("entity: "+name+" does not exist", ex));
 				}
 			}
 			exceptions.addAll(writer.getExceptions());