diff --git a/elastic4s-handlers/src/main/scala/com/sksamuel/elastic4s/handlers/get/GetHandlers.scala b/elastic4s-handlers/src/main/scala/com/sksamuel/elastic4s/handlers/get/GetHandlers.scala
index 25c48a0c6..dd9f84bb2 100644
--- a/elastic4s-handlers/src/main/scala/com/sksamuel/elastic4s/handlers/get/GetHandlers.scala
+++ b/elastic4s-handlers/src/main/scala/com/sksamuel/elastic4s/handlers/get/GetHandlers.scala
@@ -18,13 +18,6 @@ trait GetHandlers {
 
   implicit object MultiGetHandler extends Handler[MultiGetRequest, MultiGetResponse] {
 
-    override def responseHandler: ResponseHandler[MultiGetResponse] = new ResponseHandler[MultiGetResponse] {
-      override def handle(response: HttpResponse): Either[ElasticError, MultiGetResponse] = response.statusCode match {
-        case 404 | 500 => sys.error(response.toString)
-        case _         => Right(ResponseHandler.fromResponse[MultiGetResponse](response))
-      }
-    }
-
     override def build(request: MultiGetRequest): ElasticRequest = {
       val body   = MultiGetBodyBuilder(request).string
       val entity = HttpEntity(body, "application/json")
diff --git a/elastic4s-tests/src/test/scala/com/sksamuel/elastic4s/requests/get/MultiGetTest.scala b/elastic4s-tests/src/test/scala/com/sksamuel/elastic4s/requests/get/MultiGetTest.scala
index bc5aba185..f99839b32 100644
--- a/elastic4s-tests/src/test/scala/com/sksamuel/elastic4s/requests/get/MultiGetTest.scala
+++ b/elastic4s-tests/src/test/scala/com/sksamuel/elastic4s/requests/get/MultiGetTest.scala
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package com.sksamuel.elastic4s.requests.get
 
+import com.sksamuel.elastic4s.{Authentication, CommonRequestOptions}
 import com.sksamuel.elastic4s.requests.common.RefreshPolicy
 import com.sksamuel.elastic4s.testkit.DockerTests
 import org.scalatest.flatspec.AnyFlatSpec
@@ -107,4 +108,14 @@ class MultiGetTest extends AnyFlatSpec with MockitoSugar with DockerTests {
     resp.items.head.id shouldBe "3"
     resp.items.head.exists shouldBe true
   }
+
+  it should "error if authentication is unsuccessful" in {
+    implicit val requestOptions: CommonRequestOptions = CommonRequestOptions.defaults.copy(
+      authentication = Authentication.UsernamePassword("not_exists", "pass123")
+    )
+
+    client.execute(
+      multiget(get("coldplay", "3") routing "3")
+    ).await.error.`type` shouldBe "security_exception"
+  }
 }