diff --git a/api/src/main/java/ai/djl/repository/RepositoryFactoryImpl.java b/api/src/main/java/ai/djl/repository/RepositoryFactoryImpl.java
index 7b6c3b7c995..71f394d6d14 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/ai/djl/repository/RepositoryFactoryImpl.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/ai/djl/repository/RepositoryFactoryImpl.java
@@ -253,14 +253,12 @@ public Repository newInstance(String name, URI uri) {
 
             ModelZoo zoo = ModelZoo.getModelZoo(groupId);
             if (zoo == null) {
-                logger.warn("ModelZoo not found: {}", groupId);
-                return repo;
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("ModelZoo not found in classpath: " + groupId);
             }
 
             ModelLoader loader = zoo.getModelLoader(artifactId);
             if (loader == null) {
-                logger.warn("Artifact not found: {}/{}", groupId, artifactId);
-                return repo;
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid djl URL: " + uri);
             }
 
             MRL mrl =
diff --git a/api/src/test/java/ai/djl/repository/DjlRepositoryTest.java b/api/src/test/java/ai/djl/repository/DjlRepositoryTest.java
index 24a0b1c6cc5..5a53da4f46d 100644
--- a/api/src/test/java/ai/djl/repository/DjlRepositoryTest.java
+++ b/api/src/test/java/ai/djl/repository/DjlRepositoryTest.java
@@ -37,11 +37,13 @@ public void testResource() throws ModelNotFoundException, MalformedModelExceptio
         repo = Repository.newInstance("DJL", "djl://ai.djl.pytorch/resnet/0.0.1/traced_resnet18");
         Assert.assertEquals(repo.getResources().size(), 1);
 
-        repo = Repository.newInstance("DJL", "djl://ai.djl.pytorch/fake/0.0.1");
-        Assert.assertEquals(repo.getResources().size(), 0);
+        Assert.assertThrows(
+                IllegalArgumentException.class,
+                () -> Repository.newInstance("DJL", "djl://ai.djl.pytorch/fake/0.0.1"));
 
-        repo = Repository.newInstance("DJL", "djl://ai.djl.fake/mlp/0.0.1");
-        Assert.assertEquals(repo.getResources().size(), 0);
+        Assert.assertThrows(
+                IllegalArgumentException.class,
+                () -> Repository.newInstance("DJL", "djl://ai.djl.fake/mlp/0.0.1"));
 
         Assert.expectThrows(
                 IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> Repository.newInstance("DJL", "djl://"));