diff --git a/lib/npm-auditer.ts b/lib/npm-auditer.ts
index 674de60f..37b1af5f 100644
--- a/lib/npm-auditer.ts
+++ b/lib/npm-auditer.ts
@@ -119,6 +119,8 @@ export async function audit(config: AuditCiConfig, reporter = reportAudit) {
   if ("error" in parsedOutput) {
     const { code, summary } = parsedOutput.error;
     throw new Error(`code ${code}: ${summary}`);
+  } else if ("message" in parsedOutput) {
+    throw new Error(parsedOutput.message);
   }
   return report(parsedOutput, config, reporter);
 }
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index f2859c07..92218570 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
         "@types/yargs": "^17.0.9",
         "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^5.14.0",
         "@typescript-eslint/parser": "^5.14.0",
-        "audit-types": "^0.5.0",
+        "audit-types": "^0.5.1",
         "chai": "^4.3.6",
         "eslint": "^8.11.0",
         "eslint-config-prettier": "^8.5.0",
@@ -681,9 +681,9 @@
       }
     },
     "node_modules/audit-types": {
-      "version": "0.5.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/audit-types/-/audit-types-0.5.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-YyNLLGa9n+CDZT4cl98tYGEnn9Z+3Np37ZMY5kkSfb7++E9wVCOMi3N4aAsnIr+9sAYWpvE8SMHw64KfEEBJ0A==",
+      "version": "0.5.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/audit-types/-/audit-types-0.5.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-0SOZQMD7c63vMe/LFvIqXNCrQZP2tBnMQdcDCe/9tPOqaw+6ZCQFCj49xDFBn81j18J+IznFjcSug7ZkP+/EnA==",
       "dev": true
     },
     "node_modules/balanced-match": {
@@ -4441,9 +4441,9 @@
       "dev": true
     },
     "audit-types": {
-      "version": "0.5.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/audit-types/-/audit-types-0.5.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-YyNLLGa9n+CDZT4cl98tYGEnn9Z+3Np37ZMY5kkSfb7++E9wVCOMi3N4aAsnIr+9sAYWpvE8SMHw64KfEEBJ0A==",
+      "version": "0.5.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/audit-types/-/audit-types-0.5.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-0SOZQMD7c63vMe/LFvIqXNCrQZP2tBnMQdcDCe/9tPOqaw+6ZCQFCj49xDFBn81j18J+IznFjcSug7ZkP+/EnA==",
       "dev": true
     },
     "balanced-match": {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 7512a64e..46fc4db9 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
     "@types/yargs": "^17.0.9",
     "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^5.14.0",
     "@typescript-eslint/parser": "^5.14.0",
-    "audit-types": "^0.5.0",
+    "audit-types": "^0.5.1",
     "chai": "^4.3.6",
     "eslint": "^8.11.0",
     "eslint-config-prettier": "^8.5.0",
diff --git a/test/npm7-auditer.spec.js b/test/npm7-auditer.spec.js
index 625894da..4594cdfe 100644
--- a/test/npm7-auditer.spec.js
+++ b/test/npm7-auditer.spec.js
@@ -277,6 +277,20 @@ describe("npm7-auditer", () => {
       done();
     });
   });
+  it("fails with error code ECONNREFUSED on a live site with no registry", (done) => {
+    audit(
+      config({
+        directory: testDirectory("npm-low"),
+        levels: { low: true },
+        registry: "http://localhost",
+      })
+    )
+      .catch((error) => {
+        expect(error.message).to.include("ECONNREFUSED");
+        done();
+      })
+      .catch((error) => done(error));
+  });
   it("reports summary with no vulnerabilities when critical devDependency and skip-dev is true", () => {
     const summary = report(
       reportNpmSkipDevelopment,