diff --git a/src/persistence/BaseMCWSPersistenceProvider.js b/src/persistence/BaseMCWSPersistenceProvider.js
index 017661a..8e02d65 100644
--- a/src/persistence/BaseMCWSPersistenceProvider.js
+++ b/src/persistence/BaseMCWSPersistenceProvider.js
@@ -202,10 +202,10 @@ export default class BaseMCWSPersistenceProvider {
 
           return;
         }
+      } else {
+        throw readError;
       }
     }
-
-    return;
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/persistence/MCWSPersistenceProvider.js b/src/persistence/MCWSPersistenceProvider.js
index d43d7ff..750d914 100644
--- a/src/persistence/MCWSPersistenceProvider.js
+++ b/src/persistence/MCWSPersistenceProvider.js
@@ -18,9 +18,8 @@ export default class MCWSPersistenceProvider extends BaseMCWSPersistenceProvider
       options.signal = abortSignal;
     }
 
-    const persistenceNamespace = await this.#getNamespace(namespace, options);
-
     try {
+      const persistenceNamespace = await this.#getNamespace(namespace, options);
       let result = await persistenceNamespace.opaqueFile(key).read();
 
       result = await this.#fromPersistableModel(result, identifier);
@@ -29,6 +28,21 @@ export default class MCWSPersistenceProvider extends BaseMCWSPersistenceProvider
     } catch (error) {
       console.warn('MCWSPersistenceProvider:get', error);
 
+      // it's a network error, we don't want to create a new object
+      if (error.status !== 404) {
+        const userFolder = namespace.split(':')[0].split('-').pop();
+        this.openmct.notifications.error(
+          `Unable to open ${userFolder} folder. Close and open the folder to try again. If issue persists, check network connection and try again.`
+        );
+
+        return {
+          identifier,
+          type: 'unknown',
+          name: 'Error: ' + this.openmct.objects.makeKeyString(identifier),
+          networkError: true
+        };
+      }
+
       return;
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/persistence/oldPersistenceFolderInterceptor.js b/src/persistence/oldPersistenceFolderInterceptor.js
index 3339e42..8110a16 100644
--- a/src/persistence/oldPersistenceFolderInterceptor.js
+++ b/src/persistence/oldPersistenceFolderInterceptor.js
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ export default async function oldPersistenceFolderInterceptor(
       let userId = 'system';
       let namespaceDefinition;
 
+      // if the object is a network error object, we don't want to create a new object
+      if (object.networkError === true) {
+        return object;
+      }
+
       if (
         isUserNamespace(usersNamespace, userKeyRegex, identifier) &&
         !identifier.namespace.includes('shared')