diff --git a/beetsplug/embedart.py b/beetsplug/embedart.py
index 3ac1a1e25..5df9f2e5a 100644
--- a/beetsplug/embedart.py
+++ b/beetsplug/embedart.py
@@ -112,8 +112,15 @@ class EmbedCoverArtPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
                                    quality=quality)
             elif opts.url:
                 from PIL import Image
-                response = requests.get(opts.url)
-                img = Image.open(BytesIO(response.content))
+                try:
+                    response = requests.get(opts.url, timeout=5)
+                    response.raise_for_status()
+                except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
+                    self._log.error("Error: {}".format(e))
+                try:
+                    img = Image.open(BytesIO(response.content))
+                except OSError as e:
+                    self._log.error("Error: {}".format(e))
                 if img.format:
                     with open('temp.jpg', 'wb') as f:
                         f.write(response.content)