diff --git a/src/OpenSearch/Connections/Connection.php b/src/OpenSearch/Connections/Connection.php
index cf25f7379..b24bcae4a 100644
--- a/src/OpenSearch/Connections/Connection.php
+++ b/src/OpenSearch/Connections/Connection.php
@@ -748,7 +748,7 @@ private function tryDeserializeError(array $response, string $errorClass): OpenS
             // 2.0 structured exceptions
             if (is_array($error['error']) && array_key_exists('reason', $error['error']) === true) {
                 // Try to use root cause first (only grabs the first root cause)
-                $root = $error['error']['root_cause'];
+                $root = array_key_exists('root_cause',$error['error']) ? $error['error']['root_cause']:'';
                 if (isset($root) && isset($root[0])) {
                     $cause = $root[0]['reason'];
                     $type = $root[0]['type'];