diff --git a/pkg/storage/tsdb/bucketindex/loader.go b/pkg/storage/tsdb/bucketindex/loader.go
index 89564fd32f..ba17d34f3e 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/tsdb/bucketindex/loader.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/tsdb/bucketindex/loader.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/cortexproject/cortex/pkg/storage/bucket"
 	"github.com/cortexproject/cortex/pkg/util"
+	util_log "github.com/cortexproject/cortex/pkg/util/log"
 	"github.com/cortexproject/cortex/pkg/util/services"
 )
 
@@ -92,6 +93,11 @@ func NewLoader(cfg LoaderConfig, bucketClient objstore.Bucket, cfgProvider bucke
 // GetIndex returns the bucket index for the given user. It returns the in-memory cached
 // index if available, or load it from the bucket otherwise.
 func (l *Loader) GetIndex(ctx context.Context, userID string) (*Index, Status, error) {
+	if ctx.Err() != nil {
+		level.Warn(util_log.WithContext(ctx, l.logger)).Log("msg", "received context error when attempting to load bucket index", "err", ctx.Err())
+		return nil, UnknownStatus, ctx.Err()
+	}
+
 	l.indexesMx.RLock()
 	if entry := l.indexes[userID]; entry != nil {
 		idx := entry.index