diff --git a/combo/apps/search/models.py b/combo/apps/search/models.py
index e1816ae8..f35e0867 100644
--- a/combo/apps/search/models.py
+++ b/combo/apps/search/models.py
@@ -155,6 +155,8 @@ class SearchCell(CellBase):
         # be set explicitely in the URL template in the engine definition (via
         # {{user_nameid}} or {{user_email}}).
         kwargs['without_user'] = True
+        # don't send error traces on HTTP errors
+        kwargs['log_errors'] = 'warn'
         results = requests.get(url, **kwargs).json()
         if service.get('data_key'):
             results['data'] = results.get(service['data_key']) or []
diff --git a/combo/utils/requests_wrapper.py b/combo/utils/requests_wrapper.py
index 7d047f88..38827c2a 100644
--- a/combo/utils/requests_wrapper.py
+++ b/combo/utils/requests_wrapper.py
@@ -127,7 +127,10 @@ class Requests(RequestsSession):
             extra = {}
             if django_request:
                 extra['request'] = django_request
-            logging.error('failed to %s %s (%s)', method, url, response.status_code, extra=extra)
+            if log_errors == 'warn':
+                logging.warning('failed to %s %s (%s)', method, url, response.status_code, extra=extra)
+            else:
+                logging.error('failed to %s %s (%s)', method, url, response.status_code, extra=extra)
         if method == 'GET' and cache_duration and (response.status_code // 100 == 2):
             cache.set(cache_key, response.content, cache_duration)