diff --git a/src/instructlab/eval/exceptions.py b/src/instructlab/eval/exceptions.py
index aa31151..b3c7ca5 100644
--- a/src/instructlab/eval/exceptions.py
+++ b/src/instructlab/eval/exceptions.py
@@ -109,13 +109,13 @@ def __init__(self, tasks_dir) -> None:
         self.message = f"Invalid Tasks Dir: {tasks_dir}"
 
 
-class OpenAIError(EvalError):
+class ModelServingAPIError(EvalError):
     """
-    Error raised when reply retrieval from OpenAI API fails.
+    Error raised when reply retrieval from model serving fails.
     Attributes
         message              error message to be printed on raise
     """
 
     def __init__(self) -> None:
         super().__init__()
-        self.message = "Failed to receive a reply from API."
+        self.message = "Failed to receive a reply from model serving API."
diff --git a/src/instructlab/eval/mt_bench_common.py b/src/instructlab/eval/mt_bench_common.py
index 2b80efb..f2c1230 100644
--- a/src/instructlab/eval/mt_bench_common.py
+++ b/src/instructlab/eval/mt_bench_common.py
@@ -252,7 +252,15 @@ def play_a_match_single(
 
 
 def _is_fatal_openai_error(e: openai.OpenAIError) -> bool:
-    return isinstance(e, openai.APIConnectionError)
+    return isinstance(
+        e,
+        (
+            openai.APIConnectionError,
+            openai.AuthenticationError,
+            openai.PermissionDeniedError,
+            openai.NotFoundError,
+        ),
+    )
 
 
 # TODO: copied from instructlab (cli) utils module; consolidate somewhere?
@@ -302,6 +310,13 @@ def chat_completion_openai(
             )
             output = response.choices[0].message.content
             break
+        except (
+            # retry won't fix these errors
+            openai.BadRequestError,  # 400
+            openai.UnprocessableEntityError,  # 422
+        ) as e:
+            logger.debug(e)
+            return API_ERROR_OUTPUT  # immediately soft fail
         except (
             # retry may help with these errors
             openai.APIConnectionError,
@@ -312,6 +327,8 @@ def chat_completion_openai(
             openai.AuthenticationError,  # 401
             openai.PermissionDeniedError,  # 403
             openai.NotFoundError,  # 404
+            # General catch-all
+            openai.OpenAIError,
         ) as e:
             if not _is_fatal_openai_error(e):
                 output = API_ERROR_OUTPUT  # disable hard fail (never raise!)
@@ -321,18 +338,11 @@ def chat_completion_openai(
                 break
             logger.debug(e)
             time.sleep(API_RETRY_SLEEP)
-        except (
-            # retry won't fix these errors
-            openai.BadRequestError,  # 400
-            openai.UnprocessableEntityError,  # 422
-        ) as e:
-            logger.debug(e)
-            return API_ERROR_OUTPUT  # immediately soft fail
 
     if output is None:
         # not a single attempt was non-fatal; this is indicative of
         # basic connectivity or server issue -> hard fail
-        raise exceptions.OpenAIError
+        raise exceptions.ModelServingAPIError
     return output