diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e4572068b8..c80d1a5252 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ Inspired from [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/)
 - Fix AwsSdk2TransportOptions.responseCompression ([#322](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-java/pull/322))
 - Fix missing Highlight and SourceConfig in the MultisearchBody ([#442](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-java/pull/442))
 - Fix parsing /_alias error response for not existing alias ([#476](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-java/pull/476))
+- Fix catching JsonParsingException ([#494](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-java/issues/494))
 - Fix StoryStats numeric value out of range of int ([#489](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-java/pull/489))
 
 ### Security
diff --git a/java-client/src/main/java/org/opensearch/client/transport/rest_client/RestClientTransport.java b/java-client/src/main/java/org/opensearch/client/transport/rest_client/RestClientTransport.java
index 336392be3f..c70845cf83 100644
--- a/java-client/src/main/java/org/opensearch/client/transport/rest_client/RestClientTransport.java
+++ b/java-client/src/main/java/org/opensearch/client/transport/rest_client/RestClientTransport.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 
 package org.opensearch.client.transport.rest_client;
 
+import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpStatus;
 import org.opensearch.client.opensearch._types.OpenSearchException;
 import org.opensearch.client.opensearch._types.ErrorResponse;
 import org.opensearch.client.json.JsonpDeserializer;
@@ -246,7 +247,11 @@ private <ResponseT, ErrorT> ResponseT getHighLevelResponse(
         try {
             int statusCode = clientResp.getStatusLine().getStatusCode();
 
-            if (endpoint.isError(statusCode)) {
+            if (statusCode == HttpStatus.SC_FORBIDDEN) {
+                throw new TransportException("Forbidden access", new ResponseException(clientResp));
+            } else if (statusCode == HttpStatus.SC_UNAUTHORIZED) {
+                throw new TransportException("Unauthorized access", new ResponseException(clientResp));
+            } else if (endpoint.isError(statusCode)) {
                 JsonpDeserializer<ErrorT> errorDeserializer = endpoint.errorDeserializer(statusCode);
                 if (errorDeserializer == null) {
                     throw new TransportException(
diff --git a/java-client/src/test/java/org/opensearch/client/opensearch/integTest/restclient/RequestIT.java b/java-client/src/test/java/org/opensearch/client/opensearch/integTest/restclient/RequestIT.java
index 4c987b740d..8fa2675aab 100644
--- a/java-client/src/test/java/org/opensearch/client/opensearch/integTest/restclient/RequestIT.java
+++ b/java-client/src/test/java/org/opensearch/client/opensearch/integTest/restclient/RequestIT.java
@@ -9,17 +9,104 @@
 package org.opensearch.client.opensearch.integTest.restclient;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Optional;
 
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.auth.AuthScope;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.auth.UsernamePasswordCredentials;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.auth.BasicCredentialsProvider;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.nio.PoolingAsyncClientConnectionManager;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.nio.PoolingAsyncClientConnectionManagerBuilder;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.ssl.ClientTlsStrategyBuilder;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.ssl.NoopHostnameVerifier;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpHost;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.http.nio.ssl.TlsStrategy;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.reactor.ssl.TlsDetails;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.ssl.SSLContextBuilder;
+import org.junit.Assume;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.opensearch.client.RestClient;
+import org.opensearch.client.json.JsonData;
 import org.opensearch.client.json.jackson.JacksonJsonpMapper;
+import org.opensearch.client.opensearch.OpenSearchClient;
+import org.opensearch.client.opensearch.core.SearchRequest;
+import org.opensearch.client.opensearch.indices.CreateIndexRequest;
+import org.opensearch.client.opensearch.indices.IndexSettings;
 import org.opensearch.client.opensearch.integTest.AbstractRequestIT;
 import org.opensearch.client.transport.OpenSearchTransport;
+import org.opensearch.client.transport.TransportException;
 import org.opensearch.client.transport.rest_client.RestClientTransport;
 import org.opensearch.common.settings.Settings;
 
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.equalTo;
+
 public class RequestIT extends AbstractRequestIT {
     @Override
     public OpenSearchTransport buildTransport(Settings settings, HttpHost[] hosts) throws IOException {
         return new RestClientTransport(buildClient(settings, hosts), new JacksonJsonpMapper());
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testUnauthorized() throws Exception {
+        // The security plugin is required
+        Assume.assumeThat(isHttps(), equalTo(true));
+
+        final String userName = Optional.ofNullable(System.getProperty("user")).orElse("admin");
+        final String wrongPassword = Optional.ofNullable(System.getProperty("password")).orElse("admin")
+                + "wrong";
+
+        final BasicCredentialsProvider credentialsProvider = new BasicCredentialsProvider();
+        credentialsProvider.setCredentials(new AuthScope(getClusterHosts().get(0)),
+                new UsernamePasswordCredentials(userName, wrongPassword.toCharArray()));
+
+        final RestClient restClient = RestClient
+                .builder(getClusterHosts().toArray(new HttpHost[0]))
+                .setHttpClientConfigCallback(httpClientBuilder -> {
+                    try {
+                        final TlsStrategy tlsStrategy = ClientTlsStrategyBuilder
+                                .create()
+                                .setSslContext(
+                                        SSLContextBuilder.create().loadTrustMaterial(
+                                                null, (chains, authType) -> true).build())
+                                .setHostnameVerifier(NoopHostnameVerifier.INSTANCE)
+                                .setTlsDetailsFactory(
+                                        sslEngine -> new TlsDetails(
+                                                sslEngine.getSession(), sslEngine.getApplicationProtocol()))
+                                .build();
+
+                        final PoolingAsyncClientConnectionManager connectionManager =
+                                PoolingAsyncClientConnectionManagerBuilder.create()
+                                        .setTlsStrategy(tlsStrategy)
+                                        .build();
+
+                        return httpClientBuilder.setDefaultCredentialsProvider(credentialsProvider)
+                                .setConnectionManager(connectionManager);
+                    } catch (Exception e) {
+                        throw new RuntimeException(e);
+                    }
+                })
+                .build();
+
+        final RestClientTransport transport = new RestClientTransport(restClient, new JacksonJsonpMapper());
+        final OpenSearchClient client = new OpenSearchClient(transport);
+        final TransportException transportException = assertThrows(TransportException.class,
+                () -> client.cluster().getSettings());
+        assertEquals("Unauthorized access", transportException.getMessage());
+        restClient.close();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testForbidden() throws Exception {
+        final OpenSearchClient openSearchClient = javaClient();
+        final String testIndex = "test-index";
+        final CreateIndexRequest createIndexRequest = new CreateIndexRequest.Builder()
+                .index(testIndex)
+                .settings(new IndexSettings.Builder()
+                        .blocksRead(true).build())
+                .build();
+        openSearchClient.indices().create(createIndexRequest);
+        final SearchRequest searchRequest = new SearchRequest.Builder().index(testIndex).build();
+        final TransportException transportException = assertThrows(TransportException.class,
+                () -> openSearchClient.search(searchRequest, JsonData.class));
+        assertEquals("Forbidden access", transportException.getMessage());
+    }
 }