diff --git a/Resources.php b/Resources.php
index 8f18715f0..c92082dcf 100644
--- a/Resources.php
+++ b/Resources.php
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ $wgResourceModules += array(
 		),
 		'messages' => array(
 			'echo-api-failure',
+			'echo-notification-loginrequired',
 			'echo-api-failure-cross-wiki',
 		),
 		'targets' => array( 'desktop', 'mobile' ),
diff --git a/modules/controller/mw.echo.Controller.js b/modules/controller/mw.echo.Controller.js
index 85228a025..59cb7711d 100644
--- a/modules/controller/mw.echo.Controller.js
+++ b/modules/controller/mw.echo.Controller.js
@@ -226,7 +226,16 @@
 				controller.manager.getLocalCounter().update();
 
 				return dateItemIds;
-			} );
+			} )
+			.then(
+				null,
+				function ( errCode, errObj ) {
+					return {
+						errCode: errCode,
+						errInfo: OO.getProp( errObj, 'error', 'info' )
+					};
+				}
+			);
 	};
 	/**
 	 * Fetch notifications from the local API and update the notifications list.
diff --git a/modules/ui/mw.echo.ui.NotificationBadgeWidget.js b/modules/ui/mw.echo.ui.NotificationBadgeWidget.js
index c81e59ccf..9a5d6b9ed 100644
--- a/modules/ui/mw.echo.ui.NotificationBadgeWidget.js
+++ b/modules/ui/mw.echo.ui.NotificationBadgeWidget.js
@@ -357,8 +357,14 @@
 					}
 				},
 				// Failure
-				function () {
-					widget.notificationsWidget.resetLoadingOption( mw.msg( 'echo-api-failure' ) );
+				function ( errorObj ) {
+					if ( errorObj.errCode === 'notlogin-required' ) {
+						// Login required message
+						widget.notificationsWidget.resetLoadingOption( mw.msg( 'echo-notification-loginrequired' ) );
+					} else {
+						// Generic API failure message
+						widget.notificationsWidget.resetLoadingOption( mw.msg( 'echo-api-failure' ) );
+					}
 				}
 			)
 			.then( this.emit.bind( this, 'finishLoading' ) )
diff --git a/modules/ui/mw.echo.ui.NotificationsInboxWidget.js b/modules/ui/mw.echo.ui.NotificationsInboxWidget.js
index 20dd730ea..4e1df7745 100644
--- a/modules/ui/mw.echo.ui.NotificationsInboxWidget.js
+++ b/modules/ui/mw.echo.ui.NotificationsInboxWidget.js
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@
 		this.$overlay = config.$overlay || this.$element;
 		this.limit = config.limit || 25;
 
+		this.error = false;
+
 		// A notice or error message widget
 		this.noticeMessageWidget = new OO.ui.LabelWidget( {
 			classes: [ 'mw-echo-ui-notificationsInboxWidget-notice' ]
@@ -236,6 +238,7 @@
 		}
 
 		this.pushPending();
+		this.error = false;
 		return fetchPromise
 			.then(
 				// Success
@@ -245,8 +248,21 @@
 					widget.controller.updateSeenTimeForCurrentSource();
 				},
 				// Failure
-				this.popPending.bind( this )
-			);
+				function ( errObj ) {
+					var msg;
+					if ( errObj.errCode === 'notlogin-required' ) {
+						// Login required message
+						msg = mw.msg( 'echo-notification-loginrequired' );
+					} else {
+						// Generic API failure message
+						msg = mw.msg( 'echo-api-failure' );
+					}
+					widget.error = true;
+					widget.noticeMessageWidget.setLabel( msg );
+					widget.displayMessage( true );
+				}
+			)
+			.always( this.popPending.bind( this ) );
 	};
 
 	/**
@@ -265,7 +281,10 @@
 	 * Extend the popPending method to enable UI elements
 	 */
 	mw.echo.ui.NotificationsInboxWidget.prototype.popPending = function () {
-		this.resetMessageLabel();
+		if ( !this.error ) {
+			this.resetMessageLabel();
+		}
+
 		this.topPaginationWidget.setDisabled( false );
 		this.bottomPaginationWidget.setDisabled( false );
 
diff --git a/modules/ui/mw.echo.ui.NotificationsWrapper.js b/modules/ui/mw.echo.ui.NotificationsWrapper.js
index 500d54cff..d7d544f20 100644
--- a/modules/ui/mw.echo.ui.NotificationsWrapper.js
+++ b/modules/ui/mw.echo.ui.NotificationsWrapper.js
@@ -65,6 +65,15 @@
 
 		this.pushPending();
 		return this.controller.fetchLocalNotifications( true )
+			.then( null, function ( errorObj ) {
+				if ( errorObj.errCode === 'notlogin-required' ) {
+					// Login required message
+					widget.notificationsWidget.resetLoadingOption( mw.msg( 'echo-notification-loginrequired' ) );
+				} else {
+					// Generic API failure message
+					widget.notificationsWidget.resetLoadingOption( mw.msg( 'echo-api-failure' ) );
+				}
+			} )
 			.always( function () {
 				widget.popPending();
 				widget.emit( 'finishLoading' );