diff --git a/packages/person-select/src/person-select.js b/packages/person-select/src/person-select.js
index 080c1eff68b244b838f4edf5d6b245297b06f9ee..1b838de541076c1bdd2e8846d816774568413bec 100644
--- a/packages/person-select/src/person-select.js
+++ b/packages/person-select/src/person-select.js
@@ -101,10 +101,10 @@ class PersonSelect extends VPULitElementJQuery {
                     };
                 },
                 error: function (jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) {
-                    const body = jqXHR.responseJSON !== undefined && jqXHR.responseJSON["hydra:description"] !== undefined ?
-                        jqXHR.responseJSON["hydra:description"] : textStatus;
-
                     if (textStatus !== "abort") {
+                        const body = jqXHR.responseJSON !== undefined && jqXHR.responseJSON["hydra:description"] !== undefined ?
+                            jqXHR.responseJSON["hydra:description"] : textStatus;
+
                         notify({
                             "summary": i18n.t('person-select.error-summary'),
                             "body": body,