diff --git a/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/admin/gr-group-members/gr-group-members.js b/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/admin/gr-group-members/gr-group-members.js
index 1ce05b1649..5257e69c95 100644
--- a/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/admin/gr-group-members/gr-group-members.js
+++ b/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/admin/gr-group-members/gr-group-members.js
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
   'use strict';
 
   const SUGGESTIONS_LIMIT = 15;
+  const SAVING_ERROR_TEXT = 'Group may not exist, or you may not have '+
+      'permission to add it';
 
   const URL_REGEX = '^(?:[a-z]+:)?//';
 
@@ -186,7 +188,16 @@
 
     _handleSavingIncludedGroups() {
       return this.$.restAPI.saveIncludedGroup(this._groupName,
-          this._includedGroupSearch)
+          this._includedGroupSearch, err => {
+            if (err.status === 404) {
+              this.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('show-alert', {
+                detail: {message: SAVING_ERROR_TEXT},
+                bubbles: true,
+              }));
+              return err;
+            }
+            throw Error(err.statusText);
+          })
           .then(config => {
             if (!config) {
               return;
diff --git a/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/admin/gr-group-members/gr-group-members_test.html b/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/admin/gr-group-members/gr-group-members_test.html
index 194750effe..d670d4d546 100644
--- a/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/admin/gr-group-members/gr-group-members_test.html
+++ b/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/admin/gr-group-members/gr-group-members_test.html
@@ -183,6 +183,24 @@ limitations under the License.
       });
     });
 
+    test('add included group 404 shows helpful error text', () => {
+      element._groupOwner = true;
+
+      const memberName = 'bad-name';
+      const alertStub = sandbox.stub();
+      element.addEventListener('show-alert', alertStub);
+
+      sandbox.stub(element.$.restAPI, 'saveGroupMembers',
+          () => Promise.reject({status: 404}));
+
+      element.$.groupMemberSearchInput.text = memberName;
+      element.$.groupMemberSearchInput.value = 1234;
+
+      return element._handleSavingIncludedGroups().then(() => {
+        assert.isTrue(alertStub.called);
+      });
+    });
+
     test('_getAccountSuggestions empty', () => {
       return element._getAccountSuggestions('nonexistent').then(accounts => {
         assert.equal(accounts.length, 0);
diff --git a/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/shared/gr-rest-api-interface/gr-rest-api-interface.js b/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/shared/gr-rest-api-interface/gr-rest-api-interface.js
index 6749437e0a..bcc16ad5b0 100644
--- a/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/shared/gr-rest-api-interface/gr-rest-api-interface.js
+++ b/polygerrit-ui/app/elements/shared/gr-rest-api-interface/gr-rest-api-interface.js
@@ -437,12 +437,16 @@
           .then(response => this.getResponseObject(response));
     },
 
-    saveIncludedGroup(groupName, includedGroup) {
+    saveIncludedGroup(groupName, includedGroup, opt_errFn) {
       const encodeName = encodeURIComponent(groupName);
       const encodeIncludedGroup = encodeURIComponent(includedGroup);
       return this.send('PUT',
-          `/groups/${encodeName}/groups/${encodeIncludedGroup}`)
-          .then(response => this.getResponseObject(response));
+          `/groups/${encodeName}/groups/${encodeIncludedGroup}`, null,
+          opt_errFn).then(response => {
+            if (response.ok) {
+              return this.getResponseObject(response);
+            }
+          });
     },
 
     deleteGroupMembers(groupName, groupMembers) {