diff --git a/gordian/repo.py b/gordian/repo.py
index c6916a1..bd6e5f1 100644
--- a/gordian/repo.py
+++ b/gordian/repo.py
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ def _get_repo_contents(self, path):
             logger.info(f'Error fetching repo contents: {e}')
         except TimeoutError as e:
             logger.info(f'Error fetching repo contents: {e}')
+            raise e
 
     @retry(GithubException, tries=3, delay=1, backoff=2)
     def _make_branch(self):
diff --git a/tests/test_repo.py b/tests/test_repo.py
index a341ea1..0888cb3 100644
--- a/tests/test_repo.py
+++ b/tests/test_repo.py
@@ -206,3 +206,12 @@ def test__get_github_client(self):
 
         self.assertIsNotNone(repo.get_github_client())
         self.assertEqual(repo.get_github_client(), self.mock_git)
+    
+    def test_get_repo_contents(self):
+        self.repo._set_target_branch('target')
+        self.repo.files = []
+        self.repo._source_repo = MagicMock()
+        self.repo._source_repo.get_contents.side_effect = TimeoutError('Read Timeout')
+        with pytest.raises(Exception) as context:
+            self.repo._get_repo_contents(path='test/afile.txt')
+        assert "Read Timeout" in str(context.value)