diff --git a/src/rgw/services/svc_rados.cc b/src/rgw/services/svc_rados.cc
index 7d1239cec2c..99f400f42b0 100644
--- a/src/rgw/services/svc_rados.cc
+++ b/src/rgw/services/svc_rados.cc
@@ -330,11 +330,21 @@ int RGWSI_RADOS::Pool::List::init(const DoutPrefixProvider *dpp, const string& m
     return -EINVAL;
   }
 
-  ctx.iter = ctx.ioctx.nobjects_begin(oc);
-  ctx.filter = filter;
-  ctx.initialized = true;
-
-  return 0;
+  try {
+    ctx.iter = ctx.ioctx.nobjects_begin(oc);
+    ctx.filter = filter;
+    ctx.initialized = true;
+    return 0;
+  } catch (const std::system_error& e) {
+    r = -e.code().value();
+    ldpp_dout(dpp, 10) << "nobjects_begin threw " << e.what()
+       << ", returning " << r << dendl;
+    return r;
+  } catch (const std::exception& e) {
+    ldpp_dout(dpp, 10) << "nobjects_begin threw " << e.what()
+       << ", returning -5" << dendl;
+    return -EIO;
+  }
 }
 
 int RGWSI_RADOS::Pool::List::get_next(const DoutPrefixProvider *dpp,