diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/generic.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/generic.py
index b633e896c..1c468f8f6 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/generic.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/generic.py
@@ -107,8 +107,13 @@ class GenericIE(InfoExtractor):
         return new_url
 
     def _real_extract(self, url):
-        new_url = self._test_redirect(url)
-        if new_url: return [self.url_result(new_url)]
+        try:
+            new_url = self._test_redirect(url)
+            if new_url:
+                return [self.url_result(new_url)]
+        except compat_urllib_error.HTTPError:
+            # This may be a stupid server that doesn't like HEAD, our UA, or so
+            pass
 
         video_id = url.split('/')[-1]
         try: