diff --git a/lib/audit.js b/lib/audit.js
index 076ca256b7c72..2cabef9d27d0d 100644
--- a/lib/audit.js
+++ b/lib/audit.js
@@ -189,8 +189,16 @@ function auditCmd (args, cb) {
   }).then((auditReport) => {
     return audit.submitForFullReport(auditReport)
   }).catch((err) => {
-    if (err.statusCode === 404 || err.statusCode >= 500) {
-      const ne = new Error(`Your configured registry (${opts.registry}) does not support audit requests.`)
+    if (err.statusCode >= 400) {
+      let msg
+      if (err.statusCode === 401) {
+        msg = `Either your login credentials are invalid or your registry (${opts.registry}) does not support audit.`
+      } else if (err.statusCode === 404) {
+        msg = `Your configured registry (${opts.registry}) does not support audit requests.`
+      } else {
+        msg = `Your configured registry (${opts.registry}) does not support audit requests, or the audit endpoint is temporarily unavailable.`
+      }
+      const ne = new Error(msg)
       ne.code = 'ENOAUDIT'
       ne.wrapped = err
       throw ne