diff --git a/pkg/cmd/repo/gitignore/view/view.go b/pkg/cmd/repo/gitignore/view/view.go
index 82009820c..a679ef946 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/repo/gitignore/view/view.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/repo/gitignore/view/view.go
@@ -81,8 +81,11 @@ func viewRun(opts *ViewOptions) error {
 	hostname, _ := cfg.Authentication().DefaultHost()
 	gitIgnore, err := api.RepoGitIgnoreTemplate(client, hostname, opts.Template)
 	if err != nil {
-		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "HTTP 404") {
-			return fmt.Errorf("'%s' is not a valid gitignore template. Run `gh repo gitignore list` for options", opts.Template)
+		var httpErr api.HTTPError
+		if errors.As(err, &httpErr) {
+			if httpErr.StatusCode == 404 {
+				return fmt.Errorf("'%s' is not a valid gitignore template. Run `gh repo gitignore list` for options", opts.Template)
+			}
 		}
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/repo/license/view/view.go b/pkg/cmd/repo/license/view/view.go
index c21086fbc..02100efa3 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/repo/license/view/view.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/repo/license/view/view.go
@@ -94,8 +94,11 @@ func viewRun(opts *ViewOptions) error {
 	hostname, _ := cfg.Authentication().DefaultHost()
 	license, err := api.RepoLicense(client, hostname, opts.License)
 	if err != nil {
-		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "HTTP 404") {
-			return fmt.Errorf("'%s' is not a valid license template name or SPDX ID.\n\nRun `gh repo license list` to see available commonly used licenses. For even more licenses, visit %s", opts.License, text.DisplayURL("https://choosealicense.com/appendix"))
+		var httpErr api.HTTPError
+		if errors.As(err, &httpErr) {
+			if httpErr.StatusCode == 404 {
+				return fmt.Errorf("'%s' is not a valid license template name or SPDX ID.\n\nRun `gh repo license list` to see available commonly used licenses. For even more licenses, visit %s", opts.License, text.DisplayURL("https://choosealicense.com/appendix"))
+			}
 		}
 		return err
 	}