diff --git a/apps/federation/lib/Controller/OCSAuthAPIController.php b/apps/federation/lib/Controller/OCSAuthAPIController.php
index 7a2f947421ed9..8cc800f3a9f46 100644
--- a/apps/federation/lib/Controller/OCSAuthAPIController.php
+++ b/apps/federation/lib/Controller/OCSAuthAPIController.php
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ public function requestSharedSecret($url, $token) {
 				'remote server (' . $url . ') presented lower token. We will initiate the exchange of the shared secret.',
 				['app' => 'federation']
 			);
-			throw new OCSForbiddenException();
+			return new Http\DataResponse();
 		}
 
 		$this->jobList->add(