diff --git a/gerrit-sshd/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/sshd/commands/IndexChangesCommand.java b/gerrit-sshd/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/sshd/commands/IndexChangesCommand.java
index d3065dfbde..f7d5c873a3 100644
--- a/gerrit-sshd/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/sshd/commands/IndexChangesCommand.java
+++ b/gerrit-sshd/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/sshd/commands/IndexChangesCommand.java
@@ -43,10 +43,8 @@ final class IndexChangesCommand extends SshCommand {
   void addChange(String token) {
     try {
       changeArgumentParser.addChange(token, changes, null, false);
-    } catch (UnloggedFailure e) {
+    } catch (UnloggedFailure | OrmException e) {
       writeError("warning", e.getMessage());
-    } catch (OrmException e) {
-      throw new IllegalArgumentException("database is down", e);
     }
   }