diff --git a/lib/platform/gitlab/index.js b/lib/platform/gitlab/index.js
index efe8c692b33895a667b9d4c372bc3acb7dfabac1..2cb7f7e94529b43a45a5eb5d5b8d887c219657f5 100644
--- a/lib/platform/gitlab/index.js
+++ b/lib/platform/gitlab/index.js
@@ -164,11 +164,14 @@ async function initRepo({
       await config.storage.initRepo(config);
     }
     await Promise.all([getPrList(), getFileList()]);
-  } catch (err) {
+  } catch (err) /* istanbul ignore next */ {
     logger.debug('Caught initRepo error');
     if (err.message === 'archived') {
       throw err;
     }
+    if (err.statusCode === 403) {
+      throw new Error('forbidden');
+    }
     logger.info({ err }, 'Unknown GitLab initRepo error');
     throw err;
   }