diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index eadee9c0..7e4036df 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "base64-js": "^1.3.0",
     "ecdsa-sig-formatter": "^1.0.11",
-    "gaxios": "^6.0.0",
+    "gaxios": "^6.1.1",
     "gcp-metadata": "^6.1.0",
     "gtoken": "^7.0.0",
     "jws": "^4.0.0"
diff --git a/src/auth/googleauth.ts b/src/auth/googleauth.ts
index e20ecf47..b5d66c70 100644
--- a/src/auth/googleauth.ts
+++ b/src/auth/googleauth.ts
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ export class GoogleAuth<T extends AuthClient = JSONClient> {
       universeDomain = await gcpMetadata.universe('universe_domain');
       universeDomain ||= DEFAULT_UNIVERSE;
     } catch (e) {
-      if (e instanceof GaxiosError && e.status === 404) {
+      if (e && (e as GaxiosError)?.response?.status === 404) {
         universeDomain = DEFAULT_UNIVERSE;
       } else {
         throw e;