diff --git a/tests/otel_tests/test_guardrails.py b/tests/otel_tests/test_guardrails.py
index b82bc57cc..c48a5ba79 100644
--- a/tests/otel_tests/test_guardrails.py
+++ b/tests/otel_tests/test_guardrails.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ async def chat_completion(
         print()
 
         if status != 200:
-            raise Exception(f"Request did not return a 200 status code: {status}")
+            return response_text
 
         # response headers
         response_headers = response.headers