diff --git a/pkg/api/apikey.go b/pkg/api/apikey.go
index d194429906f..945bdb55c30 100644
--- a/pkg/api/apikey.go
+++ b/pkg/api/apikey.go
@@ -68,7 +68,10 @@ func (hs *HTTPServer) AddAPIKey(c *models.ReqContext, cmd models.AddApiKeyComman
 		if err == models.ErrInvalidApiKeyExpiration {
 			return Error(400, err.Error(), nil)
 		}
-		return Error(500, "Failed to add API key", err)
+		if err.Error() == models.ErrDuplicateApiKey.Error() {
+			return Error(409, "API Key Name Must Be Unique", nil)
+		}
+		return Error(500, "Failed to add API", err)
 	}
 
 	result := &dtos.NewApiKeyResult{
diff --git a/pkg/models/apikey.go b/pkg/models/apikey.go
index 1edc8379d64..33fc593eba5 100644
--- a/pkg/models/apikey.go
+++ b/pkg/models/apikey.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 
 var ErrInvalidApiKey = errors.New("Invalid API Key")
 var ErrInvalidApiKeyExpiration = errors.New("Negative value for SecondsToLive")
+var ErrDuplicateApiKey = errors.New("UNIQUE constraint failed: api_key.org_id, api_key.name")
 
 type ApiKey struct {
 	Id      int64