diff --git a/src/utils/http.py b/src/utils/http.py
index f502301d..c246cdb9 100644
--- a/src/utils/http.py
+++ b/src/utils/http.py
@@ -62,9 +62,12 @@ def request(url: str, method: str="GET", get_params: dict={},
     response_headers = utils.CaseInsensitiveDict(dict(response.headers))
 
     content_type = response.headers["Content-Type"].split(";", 1)[0]
-    if soup and content_type in SOUP_CONTENT_TYPES:
-        soup = bs4.BeautifulSoup(response_content, parser)
-        return Response(response.status_code, soup, response_headers)
+    if soup:
+        if content_type in SOUP_CONTENT_TYPES:
+            soup = bs4.BeautifulSoup(response_content, parser)
+            return Response(response.status_code, soup, response_headers)
+        else:
+            raise ValueError("Tried to soup non-html/non-xml data")
 
 
     data = response_content.decode(response.encoding or fallback_encoding)