diff --git a/endpoints/countries.get.py b/endpoints/countries.get.py
index fe67f6c..5ddc127 100644
--- a/endpoints/countries.get.py
+++ b/endpoints/countries.get.py
@@ -12,12 +12,10 @@ router = APIRouter()
 async def get_countries():
     """Get list of countries from external API"""
     async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
-        try:
-            response = await client.get("https://restcountries.com/v3.1/all")
-            response.raise_for_status()
-            return response.json()
-        except httpx.HTTPError:
+        response = await client.get("https://restcountries.com/v3.1/all")
+        if response.status_code != 200:
             raise HTTPException(
                 status_code=status.HTTP_503_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE,
                 detail="Unable to fetch countries from external API"
-            )
\ No newline at end of file
+            )
+        return response.json()
\ No newline at end of file