diff --git a/internal/github/fetcher.go b/internal/github/fetcher.go
index 5134dfd..6ae7d29 100644
--- a/internal/github/fetcher.go
+++ b/internal/github/fetcher.go
@@ -28,6 +28,12 @@ func getPushPatches(user string) ([]string, error) {
 	}
 	defer resp.Body.Close()
 
+	if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusForbidden || resp.StatusCode == http.StatusTooManyRequests {
+		if resp.Header.Get("X-RateLimit-Remaining") == "0" {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("github rate limit exceeded")
+		}
+	}
+
 	if resp.StatusCode != 200 {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("github api failed")
 	}
@@ -82,6 +88,12 @@ func getUniqueTzFromPatches(patchUrls []string) ([]string, error) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to get patch")
 		}
 		defer resp.Body.Close()
+		if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusForbidden || resp.StatusCode == http.StatusTooManyRequests {
+			if resp.Header.Get("X-RateLimit-Remaining") == "0" {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("github rate limit exceeded")
+			}
+		}
+
 		if resp.StatusCode != 200 {
 			// the DOCS say that some larges ones may time out
 			// and they DID
diff --git a/internal/github/fetcher_test.go b/internal/github/fetcher_test.go
index 299c53c..2ee5c3a 100644
--- a/internal/github/fetcher_test.go
+++ b/internal/github/fetcher_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ func TestGetPushPatches(t *testing.T) {
 func TestGetUniqTzFromPatches(t *testing.T) {
 	// another test in the same vein
 	patches, _ := getPushPatches("torvalds")
+
+	if len(patches) == 0 {
+		// you might be getting rate limited
+		t.Fatalf("no patches found")
+	}
+
 	tzs, err := getUniqueTzFromPatches(patches)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)