diff --git a/src/PyKAdminPrincipalObject.c b/src/PyKAdminPrincipalObject.c
index 9be4e8ec39cb8649f1518f5185039995240adca8..55fe61eaa4535654e4ea8d933362cb4d982ee827 100644
--- a/src/PyKAdminPrincipalObject.c
+++ b/src/PyKAdminPrincipalObject.c
@@ -1013,6 +1013,8 @@ PyKAdminPrincipalObject *PyKAdminPrincipalObject_principal_with_name(PyKAdminObj
 
             if ((retval != KADM5_OK) || code) {
                 PyKAdminPrincipal_dealloc(principal);
+                if (retval == KADM5_AUTH_GET)
+                    PyKAdminError_raise_error(retval, "kadm5_get_principal");
                 principal = (PyKAdminPrincipalObject *)Py_None;
             }