diff --git a/src/lib/collectors.js b/src/lib/collectors.js
index 0f5631b..a2c185d 100644
--- a/src/lib/collectors.js
+++ b/src/lib/collectors.js
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ async function fetchUser(username, isRSS) {
 function fetchUserFromHTML(username) {
 	return userRequestCache.getOrFetch("user/"+username, false, true, () => {
 		return switcher.request("user_html", `https://www.instagram.com/${username}/`, async res => {
+			throw constants.symbols.INSTAGRAM_DEMANDS_LOGIN // TEST
 			if (res.status === 301) throw constants.symbols.ENDPOINT_OVERRIDDEN
 			if (res.status === 302) throw constants.symbols.INSTAGRAM_DEMANDS_LOGIN
 			if (res.status === 429) throw constants.symbols.RATE_LIMITED
diff --git a/src/lib/structures/Assistant.js b/src/lib/structures/Assistant.js
index a61d6fe..4b518b0 100644
--- a/src/lib/structures/Assistant.js
+++ b/src/lib/structures/Assistant.js
@@ -26,9 +26,14 @@ class Assistant {
 				if (root.status === "ok") {
 					this.lastRequestStatus = constants.symbols.assistant_statuses.OK
 					resolve(root.data.user)
-				} else {
-					this.lastRequestStatus = constants.symbols.assistant_statuses.BLOCKED
-					reject(constants.symbols.assistant_statuses.BLOCKED)
+				} else { // "fail"
+					if (root.identifier === "NOT_FOUND") {
+						this.lastRequestStatus = constants.symbols.assistant_statuses.OK
+						reject(constants.symbols.NOT_FOUND)
+					} else { // blocked
+						this.lastRequestStatus = constants.symbols.assistant_statuses.BLOCKED
+						reject(constants.symbols.assistant_statuses.BLOCKED)
+					}
 				}
 			}).catch(error => {
 				// console.error(error)
diff --git a/src/lib/structures/AssistantSwitcher.js b/src/lib/structures/AssistantSwitcher.js
index 549eb81..13f72fb 100644
--- a/src/lib/structures/AssistantSwitcher.js
+++ b/src/lib/structures/AssistantSwitcher.js
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ class AssistantSwitcher {
 					const user = await assistant.requestUser(username)
 					return resolve(user)
 				} catch (e) {
+					if (e === constants.symbols.NOT_FOUND) {
+						const rejection = Promise.reject(e)
+						rejection.catch(() => {}) // otherwise we get a warning that the rejection was handled asynchronously
+						collectors.userRequestCache.set(`user/${username}`, false, rejection)
+						return reject(e)
+					}
 					// that assistant broke. try the next one.
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/src/site/assistant_api/user.js b/src/site/assistant_api/user.js
index fef22f2..7ad771c 100644
--- a/src/site/assistant_api/user.js
+++ b/src/site/assistant_api/user.js
@@ -65,6 +65,14 @@ module.exports = [
 							message: "Rate limited by Instagram.",
 							identifier: "RATE_LIMITED"
 						})
+					} else if (error === constants.symbols.NOT_FOUND || error === constants.symbols.ENDPOINT_OVERRIDDEN) {
+						return reply(404, {
+							status: "fail",
+							version: "1.0",
+							generatedAt: Date.now(),
+							message: "User not found.",
+							identifier: "NOT_FOUND"
+						})
 					} else {
 						throw error
 					}