diff --git a/ui/desktop/electron-app/src/models/runtime-settings.js b/ui/desktop/electron-app/src/models/runtime-settings.js
index fdd91608c..eb821985d 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/electron-app/src/models/runtime-settings.js
+++ b/ui/desktop/electron-app/src/models/runtime-settings.js
@@ -31,7 +31,12 @@ class RuntimeSettings {
     // test to see if the origin is API-compatible with the desktop client.
     const scopesEndpoint = `${origin}/v1/scopes`;
     try {
-      await netRequestPromise(scopesEndpoint);
+      const result = await netRequestPromise(scopesEndpoint);
+      // Redirects (3xx) are handled in the netRequest Promise, so we only
+      // throw an error for 4xx or 5xx responses.
+      if (result.statusCode >= 400) {
+        throw new Error();
+      }
     } catch (e) {
       throw new Error(`Origin ${origin} could not be validated.`);
     }