diff --git a/gerrit-httpd/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/httpd/ProjectBasicAuthFilter.java b/gerrit-httpd/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/httpd/ProjectBasicAuthFilter.java
index 400b1465fa..5d896dfba9 100644
--- a/gerrit-httpd/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/httpd/ProjectBasicAuthFilter.java
+++ b/gerrit-httpd/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/httpd/ProjectBasicAuthFilter.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import com.google.gerrit.server.account.AccountManager;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.account.AccountState;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.account.AuthRequest;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.account.AuthResult;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.account.AuthenticationFailedException;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.auth.NoSuchUserException;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.config.AuthConfig;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
@@ -168,6 +169,10 @@ class ProjectBasicAuthFilter implements Filter {
         rsp.sendError(SC_UNAUTHORIZED);
         return false;
       }
+    } catch (AuthenticationFailedException e) {
+      log.warn("Authentication failed for " + username + ": " + e.getMessage());
+      rsp.sendError(SC_UNAUTHORIZED);
+      return false;
     } catch (AccountException e) {
       log.warn("Authentication failed for " + username, e);
       rsp.sendError(SC_UNAUTHORIZED);
diff --git a/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/account/AuthenticationFailedException.java b/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/account/AuthenticationFailedException.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..50fb79bd64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/account/AuthenticationFailedException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2015 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package com.google.gerrit.server.account;
+
+import com.google.gerrit.server.account.AccountException;
+
+/** Authentication failed due to incorrect user or password. */
+public class AuthenticationFailedException extends AccountException {
+  private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+  public AuthenticationFailedException(String message, Throwable why) {
+    super(message, why);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/auth/ldap/Helper.java b/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/auth/ldap/Helper.java
index 4c29c9b225..966c77ac86 100644
--- a/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/auth/ldap/Helper.java
+++ b/gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/auth/ldap/Helper.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableSet;
 import com.google.gerrit.common.data.ParameterizedString;
 import com.google.gerrit.reviewdb.client.AccountGroup;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.account.AccountException;
+import com.google.gerrit.server.account.AuthenticationFailedException;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.auth.NoSuchUserException;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.config.ConfigUtil;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.config.GerritServerConfig;
@@ -172,7 +173,7 @@ import javax.security.auth.login.LoginException;
     try {
       return new InitialDirContext(env);
     } catch (NamingException e) {
-      throw new AccountException("Incorrect username or password", e);
+      throw new AuthenticationFailedException("Incorrect username or password", e);
     }
   }