diff --git a/packages/gatsby-plugin-benchmark-reporting/src/gatsby-node.js b/packages/gatsby-plugin-benchmark-reporting/src/gatsby-node.js
index 52c22ca7ca87e..7e08286af4645 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-plugin-benchmark-reporting/src/gatsby-node.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby-plugin-benchmark-reporting/src/gatsby-node.js
@@ -249,17 +249,17 @@ class BenchMeta {
       method: `POST`,
       headers: {
         "content-type": `application/json`,
-        // "user-agent": this.getUserAgent(),
+        "x-benchmark-secret": process.env.BENCHMARK_REPORTING_SECRET,
       },
       body: json,
     }).then(res => {
       lastStatus = res.status
-      if (lastStatus === 500) {
-        reportInfo(`Got 500 response, waiting for text`)
+      if ([401, 500].includes(lastStatus)) {
+        reportInfo(`Got ${lastStatus} response, waiting for text`)
         res.text().then(content => {
           reportError(
             `Response error`,
-            new Error(`Server responded with a 500 error: ${content}`)
+            new Error(`Server responded with a ${lastStatus} error: ${content}`)
           )
           process.exit(1)
         })