diff --git a/src/devx/ci/sync_wiki.py b/src/devx/ci/sync_wiki.py
index 8e23476..1af84f2 100644
--- a/src/devx/ci/sync_wiki.py
+++ b/src/devx/ci/sync_wiki.py
@@ -292,8 +292,10 @@ def main(dry_run: bool, repo: str | None, verify: bool, strict: bool) -> None:
 
     try:
         existing_pages = list_wiki_pages(client)
-    except APIError:
-        existing_pages = {}
+    except APIError as e:
+        raise click.ClickException(
+            _("Failed to list existing wiki pages: {error}. Aborting to avoid creating duplicate pages.", error=e)
+        ) from e
     if existing_pages:
         click.echo(_("Found {count} existing wiki pages.", count=len(existing_pages)))
 
diff --git a/src/devx/translations.json b/src/devx/translations.json
index b037e03..8f6d7a6 100644
--- a/src/devx/translations.json
+++ b/src/devx/translations.json
@@ -3342,5 +3342,13 @@
     "pl": "Katalog do skanowania (domyślnie: tests/integration). Można powtarzać.",
     "ru": "Директория для сканирования (по умолчанию: tests/integration). Можно повторять.",
     "zh": "要扫描的目录（默认：tests/integration）。可重复。"
+  },
+  "Failed to list existing wiki pages: {error}. Aborting to avoid creating duplicate pages.": {
+    "bg": "Неуспешно извличане на съществуващи wiki страници: {error}. Прекратяване, за да се избегне създаване на дублирани страници.",
+    "de": "Abrufen bestehender Wiki-Seiten fehlgeschlagen: {error}. Abbruch, um doppelte Seiten zu vermeiden.",
+    "en": "Failed to list existing wiki pages: {error}. Aborting to avoid creating duplicate pages.",
+    "pl": "Nie udało się wylistować istniejących stron wiki: {error}. Przerywanie, aby uniknąć tworzenia zduplikowanych stron.",
+    "ru": "Не удалось получить список существующих wiki-страниц: {error}. Прерывание, чтобы избежать создания дубликатов страниц.",
+    "zh": "列出现有 wiki 页面失败：{error}。正在中止以避免创建重复页面。"
   }
 }
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_sync_wiki.py b/tests/unit/test_sync_wiki.py
index b155965..8bc060d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_sync_wiki.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_sync_wiki.py
@@ -537,8 +537,8 @@ class TestMain:
 
     @patch.dict("os.environ", {"CI_GITEA_TOKEN": "tok"}, clear=True)
     @patch("devx.ci.sync_wiki.GiteaClient")
-    def test_initial_list_api_error_treated_as_empty(self, mock_client_cls: MagicMock) -> None:
-        """When the initial page list fails, sync proceeds treating wiki as empty."""
+    def test_initial_list_api_error_aborts(self, mock_client_cls: MagicMock) -> None:
+        """When the initial page list fails, sync aborts to avoid duplicate pages."""
         mock_client = MagicMock()
         mock_client_cls.return_value = mock_client
         with patch("devx.ci.sync_wiki.MAPPING_FILE") as mock_mapping:
@@ -549,8 +549,9 @@ class TestMain:
                         with patch("devx.ci.sync_wiki.sync_page", return_value="created"):
                             runner = CliRunner()
                             result = runner.invoke(main, ["--repo", "owner/repo"])
-        assert result.exit_code == 0
-        assert "Created: Home" in result.output
+        assert result.exit_code != 0
+        assert "Failed to list existing wiki pages" in result.output
+        assert "Aborting" in result.output
 
     @patch.dict("os.environ", {"CI_GITEA_TOKEN": "tok"}, clear=True)
     @patch("devx.ci.sync_wiki.GiteaClient")