diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/instructor/tests/test_api.py b/lms/djangoapps/instructor/tests/test_api.py
index 8822b6aac7..15a6f06690 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/instructor/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/instructor/tests/test_api.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import ddt
 import pytest
 import pytz
 from boto.exception import BotoServerError
+from botocore.exceptions import ClientError
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User  # lint-amnesty, pylint: disable=imported-auth-user
 from django.core import mail
@@ -2742,7 +2743,7 @@ class TestInstructorAPILevelsDataDump(SharedModuleStoreTestCase, LoginEnrollment
     @patch('lms.djangoapps.instructor_task.models.logger.error')
     @patch.dict(settings.GRADES_DOWNLOAD, {'STORAGE_TYPE': 's3', 'ROOT_PATH': 'tmp/edx-s3/grades'})
     @ddt.data('list_report_downloads', 'instructor_api_v1:list_report_downloads')
-    def test_list_report_downloads_error(self, endpoint, mock_error):
+    def test_list_report_downloads_error_boto(self, endpoint, mock_error):
         """
         Tests the Rate-Limit exceeded is handled and does not raise 500 error.
         """
@@ -2764,6 +2765,39 @@ class TestInstructorAPILevelsDataDump(SharedModuleStoreTestCase, LoginEnrollment
         res_json = json.loads(response.content.decode('utf-8'))
         assert res_json == {'downloads': []}
 
+    @patch('lms.djangoapps.instructor_task.models.logger.error')
+    @patch(
+        'lms.djangoapps.instructor_task.models.DJANGO_STORE_STORAGE_CLASS',
+        'storages.backends.s3boto3.S3Boto3Storage'
+    )
+    @patch.dict(settings.GRADES_DOWNLOAD, {'STORAGE_TYPE': 's3', 'ROOT_PATH': 'tmp/edx-s3/grades'})
+    @ddt.data('list_report_downloads', 'instructor_api_v1:list_report_downloads')
+    def test_list_report_downloads_error_boto3(self, endpoint, mock_error):
+        """
+        Tests the Rate-Limit exceeded is handled and does not raise 500 error.
+        """
+        error_response = {'Error': {'Code': 503, 'Message': 'error found'}}
+        operation_name = 'test'
+        url = reverse(endpoint, kwargs={'course_id': str(self.course.id)})
+        with patch(
+            'storages.backends.s3boto3.S3Boto3Storage.listdir',
+            side_effect=ClientError(error_response, operation_name)
+        ):
+            if endpoint in INSTRUCTOR_GET_ENDPOINTS:
+                response = self.client.get(url)
+            else:
+                response = self.client.post(url, {})
+
+        mock_error.assert_called_with(
+            'Fetching files failed for course: %s, status: %s, reason: %s',
+            self.course.id,
+            error_response.get('Error'),
+            error_response.get('Error').get('Message')
+        )
+
+        res_json = json.loads(response.content.decode('utf-8'))
+        assert res_json == {'downloads': []}
+
     @ddt.data('list_report_downloads', 'instructor_api_v1:list_report_downloads')
     def test_list_report_downloads(self, endpoint):
         url = reverse(endpoint, kwargs={'course_id': str(self.course.id)})
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/instructor_task/models.py b/lms/djangoapps/instructor_task/models.py
index 3655bccf17..2113af370d 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/instructor_task/models.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/instructor_task/models.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import os.path
 from uuid import uuid4
 
 from boto.exception import BotoServerError
+from botocore.exceptions import ClientError
 from django.apps import apps
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User  # lint-amnesty, pylint: disable=imported-auth-user
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ QUEUING = 'QUEUING'
 PROGRESS = 'PROGRESS'
 SCHEDULED = 'SCHEDULED'
 TASK_INPUT_LENGTH = 10000
+DJANGO_STORE_STORAGE_CLASS = 'storages.backends.s3boto.S3BotoStorage'
 
 
 class InstructorTask(models.Model):
@@ -230,7 +232,7 @@ class ReportStore:
         storage_type = config.get('STORAGE_TYPE', '').lower()
         if storage_type == 's3':
             return DjangoStorageReportStore(
-                storage_class='storages.backends.s3boto.S3BotoStorage',
+                storage_class=DJANGO_STORE_STORAGE_CLASS,
                 storage_kwargs={
                     'bucket': config['BUCKET'],
                     'location': config['ROOT_PATH'],
@@ -265,6 +267,7 @@ class DjangoStorageReportStore(ReportStore):
     def __init__(self, storage_class=None, storage_kwargs=None):
         if storage_kwargs is None:
             storage_kwargs = {}
+
         self.storage = get_storage(storage_class, **storage_kwargs)
 
     @classmethod
@@ -337,6 +340,13 @@ class DjangoStorageReportStore(ReportStore):
                 ex.reason
             )
             return []
+        except ClientError as ex:
+            logger.error(
+                'Fetching files failed for course: %s, status: %s, reason: %s',
+                course_id,
+                ex.response.get('Error'), ex.response.get('Error', {}).get('Message')
+            )
+            return []
         files = [(filename, os.path.join(course_dir, filename)) for filename in filenames]
         files.sort(key=lambda f: self.storage.get_modified_time(f[1]), reverse=True)
         return [