diff --git a/webapp/src/utils/fetch_from_pdb.ts b/webapp/src/utils/fetch_from_pdb.ts
index 98a3ccfa..ed25082f 100644
--- a/webapp/src/utils/fetch_from_pdb.ts
+++ b/webapp/src/utils/fetch_from_pdb.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,32 @@
+async function fetchPDBFile(PDBCode: string): Promise<string | void> {
+    console.warn(
+        'The CIF file for this PDB could not be found, trying for the PDB'
+    );
+    const pdbURL = `https://files.rcsb.org/download/${PDBCode.toUpperCase()}.pdb`;
+
+    const file = fetch(pdbURL)
+        .then(async (response) => {
+            if (!response.ok) {
+                throw new Error('Network error');
+            }
+            return await response.text();
+        })
+        .then(async (file) => {
+            return file;
+        })
+        .catch(async (error) => {
+            return await Promise.reject(error);
+        });
+    return await file;
+}
+
 export async function fetchPDB(PDBCode: string): Promise<string | void> {
     if (PDBCode == null) {
         return;
     }
+    // first try fetching the cif
     console.log('Fetching PDB ', PDBCode);
-    const pdbURL = `https://files.rcsb.org/download/${PDBCode.toUpperCase()}.pdb`;
+    const pdbURL = `https://files.rcsb.org/download/${PDBCode.toUpperCase()}.cif`;
 
     const file = fetch(pdbURL)
         .then(async (response) => {
@@ -15,8 +38,13 @@ export async function fetchPDB(PDBCode: string): Promise<string | void> {
         .then(async (file) => {
             return file;
         })
-        .catch(() => {
-            throw new Error('PDB Not Found');
+        .catch(async () => {
+            // if we can't find the cif, try the PDB, if that fails, then report the failure.
+            try {
+                return await fetchPDBFile(PDBCode);
+            } catch (e) {
+                return await Promise.reject(e);
+            }
         });
     return await file;
 }