diff --git a/modules/globebrowsing/tile/rawtiledatareader/gdalrawtiledatareader.cpp b/modules/globebrowsing/tile/rawtiledatareader/gdalrawtiledatareader.cpp
index 92e6a3d177..59791f02a4 100644
--- a/modules/globebrowsing/tile/rawtiledatareader/gdalrawtiledatareader.cpp
+++ b/modules/globebrowsing/tile/rawtiledatareader/gdalrawtiledatareader.cpp
@@ -133,6 +133,9 @@ void GdalRawTileDataReader::initialize() {
         throw ghoul::RuntimeError("File path must not be empty");
     }
     _dataset = openGdalDataset(_datasetFilePath);
+    if (!_dataset) {
+        throw ghoul::RuntimeError("Failed to load dataset: " + _datasetFilePath);
+    }
 
     // Assume all raster bands have the same data type
     _gdalDatasetMetaDataCached.rasterCount = _dataset->GetRasterCount();
@@ -223,21 +226,7 @@ RawTile::ReadError GdalRawTileDataReader::rasterRead(
 }
 
 GDALDataset* GdalRawTileDataReader::openGdalDataset(const std::string& filePath) {
-    GDALDataset* dataset = static_cast<GDALDataset*>(
-        GDALOpen(filePath.c_str(), GA_ReadOnly)
-    );
-    if (!dataset) {
-        using namespace ghoul::filesystem;
-        // std::string correctedPath = FileSystem::ref().pathByAppendingComponent(
-        //     _initDirectory, filePath
-        // );
-
-        dataset = static_cast<GDALDataset*>(GDALOpen(filePath.c_str(), GA_ReadOnly));
-        if (!dataset) {
-            throw ghoul::RuntimeError("Failed to load dataset:\n" + filePath);
-        }
-    }
-    return dataset;
+    return static_cast<GDALDataset*>(GDALOpen(filePath.c_str(), GA_ReadOnly));
 }
 
 int GdalRawTileDataReader::calculateTileLevelDifference(int minimumPixelSize) const {
diff --git a/modules/globebrowsing/tile/rawtiledatareader/gdalwrapper.cpp b/modules/globebrowsing/tile/rawtiledatareader/gdalwrapper.cpp
index 0b2fcc97ca..47e7b8bba0 100644
--- a/modules/globebrowsing/tile/rawtiledatareader/gdalwrapper.cpp
+++ b/modules/globebrowsing/tile/rawtiledatareader/gdalwrapper.cpp
@@ -117,23 +117,18 @@ GdalWrapper::GdalWrapper(size_t maximumCacheSize, size_t maximumMaximumCacheSize
         0,                                          // Minimum: No caching
         static_cast<int>(maximumMaximumCacheSize / (1024ULL * 1024ULL)), // Maximum
         1                                           // Step: One MB
-    ) {
+    )
+{
     addProperty(_logGdalErrors);
     addProperty(_gdalMaximumCacheSize);
 
     GDALAllRegister();
-    CPLSetConfigOption(
-        "GDAL_DATA",
-        absPath("${MODULE_GLOBEBROWSING}/gdal_data").c_str()
-    );
-    CPLSetConfigOption(
-        "CPL_TMPDIR",
-        absPath("${BASE}").c_str()
-    );
-    CPLSetConfigOption(
-        "GDAL_HTTP_UNSAFESSL",
-        "YES"
-    );
+    CPLSetConfigOption("GDAL_DATA", absPath("${MODULE_GLOBEBROWSING}/gdal_data").c_str());
+    CPLSetConfigOption("CPL_TMPDIR", absPath("${BASE}").c_str());
+    CPLSetConfigOption("GDAL_HTTP_UNSAFESSL", "YES");
+
+    CPLSetConfigOption("GDAL_HTTP_TIMEOUT", "3"); // 3 seconds
+
     setGdalProxyConfiguration();
     CPLSetErrorHandler(gdalErrorHandler);