diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 7f379ad04..65dc6f340 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 repos:
   - repo: https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit-hooks
-    rev: v4.4.0
+    rev: v6.0.0
     hooks:
       - id: check-merge-conflict
       - id: check-toml
diff --git a/pydis_site/apps/content/tests/test_utils.py b/pydis_site/apps/content/tests/test_utils.py
index 09b52205d..769084834 100644
--- a/pydis_site/apps/content/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/pydis_site/apps/content/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -241,6 +241,26 @@ def test_get_tag_404(self):
         with self.assertRaises(models.Tag.DoesNotExist):
             utils.get_tag("fake")
 
+    @mock.patch.object(utils, "fetch_tags")
+    def test_get_tags_falls_back_to_stale_cache_on_error(self, fetch_mock: mock.Mock):
+        """Test that stale cached tags are served when refreshing from GitHub fails."""
+        stale = models.Tag.objects.create(name="stale-tag")
+        models.Tag.objects.update(last_updated=_time)
+        fetch_mock.side_effect = httpx.ReadTimeout("The read operation timed out")
+
+        result = utils.get_tags()
+
+        fetch_mock.assert_called_once()
+        self.assertEqual([stale], result)
+
+    @mock.patch.object(utils, "fetch_tags")
+    def test_get_tags_reraises_on_error_with_empty_cache(self, fetch_mock: mock.Mock):
+        """Test that an error is raised when there is no cached data to fall back on."""
+        fetch_mock.side_effect = httpx.ReadTimeout("The read operation timed out")
+
+        with self.assertRaises(utils.TagUpdateError):
+            utils.get_tags()
+
     @mock.patch.object(utils, "get_tag_category")
     def test_category_pages(self, get_mock: mock.Mock):
         """Test that the category pages function calls the correct method for tags."""
diff --git a/pydis_site/apps/content/utils.py b/pydis_site/apps/content/utils.py
index bb892d350..2d8f90aed 100644
--- a/pydis_site/apps/content/utils.py
+++ b/pydis_site/apps/content/utils.py
@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+class TagUpdateError(Exception):
+    """Raised when tags cannot be fetched from GitHub and no cached data is available."""
+
+
 def github_client(**kwargs) -> httpx.Client:
     """Get a client to access the GitHub API with important settings pre-configured."""
     client = httpx.Client(
@@ -228,7 +232,16 @@ def get_tags() -> list[Tag]:
         if settings.STATIC_BUILD:  # pragma: no cover
             tags = get_tags_static()
         else:
-            tags = fetch_tags()
+            try:
+                tags = fetch_tags()
+            except httpx.HTTPError as error:
+                # return the stale cache if we have one, otherwise raise the error
+                if last_update is not None:
+                    log.warning("Failed to refresh tags from GitHub: %r", error)
+                    return list(Tag.objects.all())
+                raise TagUpdateError(
+                    "Failed to fetch tags from GitHub, also have no stale cache to fall back on."
+                ) from error
             record_tags(tags)
 
         return tags
diff --git a/pydis_site/apps/home/views.py b/pydis_site/apps/home/views.py
index 41415f846..859d5e30d 100644
--- a/pydis_site/apps/home/views.py
+++ b/pydis_site/apps/home/views.py
@@ -79,10 +79,10 @@ def _get_api_data(self) -> dict[str, RepoAPIData]:
 
             api_data: list[dict] = resp.json()
         except httpx.TimeoutException:
-            log.error("Request to fetch GitHub repository metadata for timed out!")
+            log.warning("Request to fetch GitHub repository metadata for timed out!")
             return repo_dict
         except httpx.HTTPStatusError as ex:
-            log.error(f"Received HTTP {ex.response.status_code} from GitHub repository metadata request!")
+            log.warning(f"Received HTTP {ex.response.status_code} from GitHub repository metadata request!")
             return repo_dict
         except JSONDecodeError:
             log.error("GitHub returned invalid JSON for repository metadata!")