diff --git a/find_posts.py b/find_posts.py
index 2fb84d6..10aebdf 100644
--- a/find_posts.py
+++ b/find_posts.py
@@ -795,12 +795,30 @@ def get_paginated_mastodon(url, max, headers = {}, timeout = 0, max_tries = 5):
     if(isinstance(max, int)):
         while len(result) < max and 'next' in response.links:
             response = get(response.links['next']['url'], headers, timeout, max_tries)
-            result = result + response.json()
+            if response.status_code != 200:
+                raise Exception(
+                    f"Error getting URL {response.url}. \
+                        Status code: {response.status_code}"
+                )
+            response_json = response.json()
+            if isinstance(response_json, list):
+                result += response_json
+            else:
+                break
     else:
-        while parser.parse(result[-1]['created_at']) >= max and 'next' in response.links:
+        while result and parser.parse(result[-1]['created_at']) >= max \
+            and 'next' in response.links:
             response = get(response.links['next']['url'], headers, timeout, max_tries)
-            result = result + response.json()
-    
+            if response.status_code != 200:
+                raise Exception(
+                    f"Error getting URL {response.url}. \
+                        Status code: {response.status_code}"
+                )
+            response_json = response.json()
+            if isinstance(response_json, list):
+                result += response_json
+            else:
+                break
     return result