diff --git a/public/app/features/plugins/admin/api.ts b/public/app/features/plugins/admin/api.ts
index d1ea94be33a..40344e2932a 100644
--- a/public/app/features/plugins/admin/api.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/plugins/admin/api.ts
@@ -30,13 +30,24 @@ export async function getPluginDetails(id: string): Promise<CatalogPluginDetails
 }
 
 export async function getRemotePlugins(): Promise<RemotePlugin[]> {
-  // We are also fetching deprecated plugins, because we would like to be able to label plugins in the list that are both installed and deprecated.
-  // (We won't show not installed deprecated plugins in the list)
-  const { items: remotePlugins }: { items: RemotePlugin[] } = await getBackendSrv().get(`${GCOM_API_ROOT}/plugins`, {
-    includeDeprecated: true,
-  });
+  try {
+    const { items: remotePlugins }: { items: RemotePlugin[] } = await getBackendSrv().get(`${GCOM_API_ROOT}/plugins`, {
+      // We are also fetching deprecated plugins, because we would like to be able to label plugins in the list that are both installed and deprecated.
+      // (We won't show not installed deprecated plugins in the list)
+      includeDeprecated: true,
+    });
 
-  return remotePlugins.filter(isRemotePluginVisibleByConfig);
+    return remotePlugins.filter(isRemotePluginVisibleByConfig);
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (isFetchError(error)) {
+      // It can happen that GCOM is not available, in that case we show a limited set of information to the user.
+      error.isHandled = true;
+      console.error('Failed to fetch plugins from catalog (default https://grafana.com/api/plugins)');
+      return [];
+    }
+
+    throw error;
+  }
 }
 
 export async function getPluginErrors(): Promise<PluginError[]> {
diff --git a/public/app/features/plugins/admin/state/actions.ts b/public/app/features/plugins/admin/state/actions.ts
index 7d3b3babdbf..0afc9560ebd 100644
--- a/public/app/features/plugins/admin/state/actions.ts
+++ b/public/app/features/plugins/admin/state/actions.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { createAction, createAsyncThunk, Update } from '@reduxjs/toolkit';
-import { from, forkJoin, timeout, lastValueFrom, catchError, throwError, of } from 'rxjs';
+import { from, forkJoin, timeout, lastValueFrom, catchError, of } from 'rxjs';
 
 import { PanelPlugin, PluginError } from '@grafana/data';
 import { config, getBackendSrv, isFetchError } from '@grafana/runtime';
@@ -27,13 +27,22 @@ export const fetchAll = createAsyncThunk(`${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchAll`, async (_, t
     thunkApi.dispatch({ type: `${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchLocal/pending` });
     thunkApi.dispatch({ type: `${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchRemote/pending` });
 
-    const local$ = from(getLocalPlugins());
-    const remote$ = from(getRemotePlugins());
     const instance$ =
       config.pluginAdminExternalManageEnabled && configCore.featureToggles.managedPluginsInstall
         ? from(getInstancePlugins())
         : of(undefined);
+    const TIMEOUT = 500;
     const pluginErrors$ = from(getPluginErrors());
+    const local$ = from(getLocalPlugins());
+    // Unknown error while fetching remote plugins from GCOM.
+    // (In this case we still operate, but only with locally available plugins.)
+    const remote$ = from(getRemotePlugins()).pipe(
+      catchError((err) => {
+        thunkApi.dispatch({ type: `${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchRemote/rejected` });
+        console.error(err);
+        return of([]);
+      })
+    );
 
     forkJoin({
       local: local$,
@@ -42,20 +51,14 @@ export const fetchAll = createAsyncThunk(`${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchAll`, async (_, t
       pluginErrors: pluginErrors$,
     })
       .pipe(
-        // Fetching the list of plugins from GCOM is slow / errors out
+        // Fetching the list of plugins from GCOM is slow / times out
+        // (We are waiting for TIMEOUT, and if there is still no response from GCOM we continue with locally
+        // installed plugins only by returning a new observable. We also still wait for the remote request to finish or
+        // time out, but we don't block the main execution flow.)
         timeout({
-          each: 500,
+          each: TIMEOUT,
           with: () => {
             remote$
-              // The request to fetch remote plugins from GCOM failed
-              .pipe(
-                catchError((err) => {
-                  thunkApi.dispatch({ type: `${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchRemote/rejected` });
-                  return throwError(
-                    () => new Error('Failed to fetch plugins from catalog (default https://grafana.com/api/plugins)')
-                  );
-                })
-              )
               // Remote plugins loaded after a timeout, updating the store
               .subscribe(async (remote: RemotePlugin[]) => {
                 thunkApi.dispatch({ type: `${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchRemote/fulfilled` });
@@ -69,7 +72,7 @@ export const fetchAll = createAsyncThunk(`${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchAll`, async (_, t
                 }
               });
 
-            return forkJoin({ local: local$, pluginErrors: pluginErrors$ });
+            return forkJoin({ local: local$, instance: instance$, pluginErrors: pluginErrors$ });
           },
         })
       )
@@ -85,16 +88,23 @@ export const fetchAll = createAsyncThunk(`${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchAll`, async (_, t
           instance?: InstancePlugin[];
           pluginErrors: PluginError[];
         }) => {
-          thunkApi.dispatch({ type: `${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchLocal/fulfilled` });
-
           // Both local and remote plugins are loaded
           if (local && remote) {
+            thunkApi.dispatch({ type: `${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchLocal/fulfilled` });
+            thunkApi.dispatch({ type: `${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchRemote/fulfilled` });
             thunkApi.dispatch(addPlugins(mergeLocalsAndRemotes({ local, remote, instance, pluginErrors })));
 
             // Only remote plugins are loaded (remote timed out)
           } else if (local) {
+            thunkApi.dispatch({ type: `${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchLocal/fulfilled` });
             thunkApi.dispatch(addPlugins(mergeLocalsAndRemotes({ local, pluginErrors })));
           }
+        },
+        (error) => {
+          console.log(error);
+          thunkApi.dispatch({ type: `${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchLocal/rejected` });
+          thunkApi.dispatch({ type: `${STATE_PREFIX}/fetchRemote/rejected` });
+          return thunkApi.rejectWithValue('Unknown error.');
         }
       );