diff --git a/openhands/controller/agent_controller.py b/openhands/controller/agent_controller.py
index 569d37a9be62..d4fd9178b390 100644
--- a/openhands/controller/agent_controller.py
+++ b/openhands/controller/agent_controller.py
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ async def _step_with_exception_handling(self):
             reported = RuntimeError(
                 'There was an unexpected error while running the agent.'
             )
-            if isinstance(e, litellm.LLMError):
+            if isinstance(e, litellm.AuthenticationError):
                 reported = e
             await self._react_to_exception(reported)