diff --git a/mreg_cli/exceptions.py b/mreg_cli/exceptions.py
index 5f28f095..ba5b3534 100644
--- a/mreg_cli/exceptions.py
+++ b/mreg_cli/exceptions.py
@@ -58,3 +58,20 @@ class NetworkNotFoundWarning(CliWarning):
     """Warning class for network not found."""
 
     pass
+
+
+class LoginFailedError(CliException):
+    """Error class for login failure."""
+
+    def formatted_exception(self) -> str:
+        """Return a string formatted with 'Login failed:' prefixing the error message.
+
+        :returns: Formatted error message.
+        """
+        return f"Login failed: {super().__str__()}"
+
+    def __str__(self) -> str:
+        """Return the error message."""
+        return "Login failed"
+
+    pass
diff --git a/mreg_cli/main.py b/mreg_cli/main.py
index 033a97e0..e32b65f6 100644
--- a/mreg_cli/main.py
+++ b/mreg_cli/main.py
@@ -11,8 +11,9 @@
 import mreg_cli.utilities.api as api
 from mreg_cli.cli import cli, source
 from mreg_cli.config import MregCliConfig
+from mreg_cli.exceptions import LoginFailedError
 from mreg_cli.outputmanager import OutputManager
-from mreg_cli.utilities.api import login1
+from mreg_cli.utilities.api import try_token_or_login
 
 from . import log
 
@@ -134,9 +135,9 @@ def main():
         return
 
     try:
-        login1(config.get("user"), config.get("url"))
-    except (EOFError, KeyboardInterrupt):
-        print("")
+        try_token_or_login(config.get("user"), config.get("url"))
+    except (EOFError, KeyboardInterrupt, LoginFailedError) as e:
+        print(e)
         raise SystemExit() from None
     if args.show_token:
         print(api.session.headers["Authorization"])
diff --git a/mreg_cli/utilities/api.py b/mreg_cli/utilities/api.py
index 1fdb06fa..3719fe81 100644
--- a/mreg_cli/utilities/api.py
+++ b/mreg_cli/utilities/api.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 from prompt_toolkit import prompt
 
 from mreg_cli.config import MregCliConfig
-from mreg_cli.exceptions import CliError
+from mreg_cli.exceptions import CliError, LoginFailedError
 from mreg_cli.log import cli_error, cli_warning
 
 session = requests.Session()
@@ -52,8 +52,18 @@ def set_file_permissions(f: str, mode: int) -> None:
         pass
 
 
-def login1(user: str, url: str) -> None:
-    """Login to MREG."""
+def try_token_or_login(user: str, url: str) -> None:
+    """Check for a valid token or interactively log in to MREG.
+
+    Exits on connection failure.
+
+    :param user: Username to login with.
+    :param url: URL to MREG.
+
+    :raises LoginFailedError: If login fails.
+
+    :returns: Nothing.
+    """
     if os.path.isfile(mreg_auth_token_file):
         try:
             with open(mreg_auth_token_file, encoding="utf-8") as tokenfile:
@@ -80,18 +90,29 @@ def login1(user: str, url: str) -> None:
         error(f"Could not connect to {url}")
 
     if ret.status_code == 401:
-        login(user, url)
+        prompt_for_password_and_login(user, url, catch_exception=False)
+
 
+def prompt_for_password_and_login(user: str, url: str, catch_exception: bool = True) -> None:
+    """Login to MREG.
 
-def login(user: str, url: str) -> None:
-    """Login to MREG."""
+    :param user: Username to login with.
+    :param url: URL to MREG.
+    :param catch_exception: If True, login errors are caught, otherwise they are passed on.
+
+    :raises LoginFailedError: If login fails and catch_exception is False.
+
+    :returns: Nothing.
+    """
     print(f"Connecting to {url}")
-    # get url
     password = prompt(f"Password for {user}: ", is_password=True)
     try:
-        _update_token(user, password)
+        auth_and_update_token(user, password)
     except CliError as e:
-        e.print_self()
+        if catch_exception:
+            e.print_self()
+        else:
+            raise LoginFailedError() from e
 
 
 def logout() -> None:
@@ -104,16 +125,16 @@ def logout() -> None:
         pass
 
 
-def update_token() -> None:
-    """Update the token."""
+def prompt_for_password_and_try_update_token() -> None:
+    """Prompt for a password and try to update the token."""
     password = prompt("You need to re-autenticate\nEnter password: ", is_password=True)
     try:
-        _update_token(MregCliConfig().get("user"), password)
+        auth_and_update_token(MregCliConfig().get("user"), password)
     except CliError as e:
         e.print_self()
 
 
-def _update_token(username: Optional[str], password: str) -> None:
+def auth_and_update_token(username: Optional[str], password: str) -> None:
     """Perform the actual token update."""
     tokenurl = urljoin(MregCliConfig().get_url(), "/api/token-auth/")
     try:
@@ -182,8 +203,8 @@ def _request_wrapper(
     OutputManager().recording_request(operation_type, url, params, data, result)
 
     if first and result.status_code == 401:
-        update_token()
-        return _request_wrapper(operation_type, path, first=False, **data)
+        prompt_for_password_and_try_update_token()
+        return _request_wrapper(operation_type, path, params=params, first=False, **data)
     elif result.status_code == 404 and ok404:
         return None