diff --git a/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Installer.java b/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Installer.java
index 44689e819e..f38b9fdd81 100644
--- a/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Installer.java
+++ b/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Installer.java
@@ -66,9 +66,9 @@ class Installer extends ModuleInstall {
                     int serverStopPort = server.getCurrentSolrStopPort();
                     logger.log(Level.SEVERE, "There's already a server running on "
                             + serverPort + " port that can't be shutdown.");
-                    if (!Server.available(serverPort)) {
+                    if (!Server.isPortAvailable(serverPort)) {
                         reportPortError(serverPort);
-                    } else if (!Server.available(serverStopPort)) {
+                    } else if (!Server.isPortAvailable(serverStopPort)) {
                         reportStopPortError(serverStopPort);
                     } else {
                         //some other reason
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ class Installer extends ModuleInstall {
             //TODO move some of this logic to Server class
             for (int i = 0; i <= 3; i++) {
                 logger.log(Level.INFO, "Checking if port available.");
-                if (Server.available(server.getCurrentSolrServerPort())) {
+                if (Server.isPortAvailable(server.getCurrentSolrServerPort())) {
                     logger.log(Level.INFO, "Port available, trying to start server.");
                     server.start();
                     break;
@@ -165,9 +165,9 @@ class Installer extends ModuleInstall {
                 //check if port is taken or some other reason
                 int serverPort = server.getCurrentSolrServerPort();
                 int serverStopPort = server.getCurrentSolrStopPort();
-                if (!Server.available(serverPort)) {
+                if (!Server.isPortAvailable(serverPort)) {
                     reportPortError(serverPort);
-                } else if (!Server.available(serverStopPort)) {
+                } else if (!Server.isPortAvailable(serverStopPort)) {
                     reportStopPortError(serverStopPort);
                 } else {
                     //some other reason
diff --git a/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/KeywordSearchIngestModule.java b/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/KeywordSearchIngestModule.java
index 821999419c..7220d4d485 100755
--- a/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/KeywordSearchIngestModule.java
+++ b/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/KeywordSearchIngestModule.java
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ import org.netbeans.api.progress.aggregate.AggregateProgressFactory;
 import org.netbeans.api.progress.aggregate.AggregateProgressHandle;
 import org.netbeans.api.progress.aggregate.ProgressContributor;
 import org.openide.util.Cancellable;
+import org.openide.util.Exceptions;
 import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.casemodule.Case;
 import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.coreutils.EscapeUtil;
 import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.coreutils.MessageNotifyUtil;
@@ -361,8 +362,7 @@ public final class KeywordSearchIngestModule extends IngestModuleAbstractFile {
                 logger.log(Level.SEVERE, msg);
                 String details = NbBundle.getMessage(this.getClass(), "KeywordSearchIngestModule.init.tryStopSolrMsg", msg);
                 services.postMessage(IngestMessage.createErrorMessage(++messageID, instance, msg, details));
-                return;
-
+                throw new IngestModuleException(msg);
             }
         } catch (KeywordSearchModuleException ex) {
             logger.log(Level.WARNING, "Error checking if Solr server is running while initializing ingest", ex);
@@ -370,9 +370,15 @@ public final class KeywordSearchIngestModule extends IngestModuleAbstractFile {
             String msg = NbBundle.getMessage(this.getClass(), "KeywordSearchIngestModule.init.badInitMsg");
             String details = NbBundle.getMessage(this.getClass(), "KeywordSearchIngestModule.init.tryStopSolrMsg", msg);
             services.postMessage(IngestMessage.createErrorMessage(++messageID, instance, msg, details));
-            return;
+            throw new IngestModuleException(msg);
+        }
+        try {
+            // make an actual query to verify that server is responding
+            // we had cases where getStatus was OK, but the connection resulted in a 404
+            server.queryNumIndexedDocuments();
+        } catch (KeywordSearchModuleException | NoOpenCoreException ex) {
+            throw new IngestModuleException("Error connecting to SOLR server: " + ex.getMessage());
         }
-
 
         //initialize extractors
         stringExtractor = new AbstractFileStringExtract();
@@ -415,7 +421,7 @@ public final class KeywordSearchIngestModule extends IngestModuleAbstractFile {
         curDataSourceIds = new HashSet<Long>();
 
         indexer = new Indexer();
-
+        
         final int updateIntervalMs = KeywordSearchSettings.getUpdateFrequency().getTime() * 60 * 1000;
         logger.log(Level.INFO, "Using commit interval (ms): " + updateIntervalMs);
         logger.log(Level.INFO, "Using searcher interval (ms): " + updateIntervalMs);
diff --git a/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Server.java b/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Server.java
index d78a630112..998d25f24c 100644
--- a/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Server.java
+++ b/KeywordSearch/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/keywordsearch/Server.java
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ public class Server {
      */
     void start() throws KeywordSearchModuleException, SolrServerNoPortException {
         logger.log(Level.INFO, "Starting Solr server from: " + solrFolder.getAbsolutePath());
-        if (available(currentSolrServerPort)) {
+        if (isPortAvailable(currentSolrServerPort)) {
             logger.log(Level.INFO, "Port [" + currentSolrServerPort + "] available, starting Solr");
             try {
                 final String MAX_SOLR_MEM_MB_PAR = "-Xmx" + Integer.toString(MAX_SOLR_MEM_MB) + "m";
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ public class Server {
      *
      * @param port the port to check for availability
      */
-    static boolean available(int port) {
+    static boolean isPortAvailable(int port) {
         ServerSocket ss = null;
         try {
 
@@ -524,6 +524,7 @@ public class Server {
 
             //TODO handle timeout in cases when some other type of server on that port
             CoreAdminRequest.getStatus(null, solrServer);
+            
             logger.log(Level.INFO, "Solr server is running");
         } catch (SolrServerException ex) {