diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/urls.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/urls.py
index f4e50233d11..4edab47167e 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/urls.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/urls.py
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ def url_argument_spec():
 
 
 def fetch_url(module, url, data=None, headers=None, method=None, 
-              use_proxy=False, force=False, last_mod_time=None, timeout=10):
+              use_proxy=True, force=False, last_mod_time=None, timeout=10):
     '''
     Fetches a file from an HTTP/FTP server using urllib2
     '''
diff --git a/library/packaging/apt_repository b/library/packaging/apt_repository
index a33c5735a8a..e10d2c5492f 100644
--- a/library/packaging/apt_repository
+++ b/library/packaging/apt_repository
@@ -320,6 +320,8 @@ class UbuntuSourcesList(SourcesList):
 
         headers = dict(Accept='application/json')
         response, info = fetch_url(self.module, lp_api, headers=headers)
+        if info['status'] != 200:
+            self.module.fail_json(msg="failed to fetch PPA information, error was: %s" % info['msg'])
         return json.load(response)
 
     def _expand_ppa(self, path):