diff --git a/lib/SimpleSAML/Bindings/Shib13/Artifact.php b/lib/SimpleSAML/Bindings/Shib13/Artifact.php
index 5960dceb988ec10aaf7cd6d4ad2d0891adb30766..9691dc4ebac6a47fcfe682944bb5cdc3e103148f 100644
--- a/lib/SimpleSAML/Bindings/Shib13/Artifact.php
+++ b/lib/SimpleSAML/Bindings/Shib13/Artifact.php
@@ -179,10 +179,7 @@ class Artifact
 
         // Fetch the artifact
         $response = HTTP::fetch($url, $opts);
-        if ($response === false) {
-            throw new \SimpleSAML_Error_Exception('Failed to retrieve assertion from IdP.');
-        }
-
+        /** @var string $response */
         XML::debugSAMLMessage($response, 'in');
 
         // Find the response in the SOAP message