diff --git a/app/services/ci/destroy_pipeline_service.rb b/app/services/ci/destroy_pipeline_service.rb
index f40e73b3efb..13f892aabb8 100644
--- a/app/services/ci/destroy_pipeline_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/ci/destroy_pipeline_service.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 module Ci
   class DestroyPipelineService < BaseService
     def execute(pipeline)
-      return false unless can?(current_user, :destroy_pipeline, pipeline)
+      raise Gitlab::Access::AccessDeniedError unless can?(current_user, :destroy_pipeline, pipeline)
 
       AuditEventService.new(current_user, pipeline).security_event
 
diff --git a/spec/services/ci/destroy_pipeline_service_spec.rb b/spec/services/ci/destroy_pipeline_service_spec.rb
index 9f449dd73e8..097daf67feb 100644
--- a/spec/services/ci/destroy_pipeline_service_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/services/ci/destroy_pipeline_service_spec.rb
@@ -53,14 +53,8 @@ describe ::Ci::DestroyPipelineService do
   context 'user is not owner' do
     let(:user) { create(:user) }
 
-    it 'returns false' do
-      is_expected.to eq(false)
-    end
-
-    it 'does not destroy the pipeline' do
-      subject
-
-      expect { pipeline.reload }.not_to raise_error
+    it 'raises an exception' do
+      expect { subject }.to raise_error(Gitlab::Access::AccessDeniedError)
     end
   end
 end