diff --git a/src/main/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/GlobalRefDbLockException.java b/src/main/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/GlobalRefDbLockException.java
index fa757db..e51e1f3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/GlobalRefDbLockException.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/GlobalRefDbLockException.java
@@ -14,11 +14,13 @@
 
 package com.gerritforge.gerrit.globalrefdb;
 
+import com.gerritforge.gerrit.globalrefdb.validation.dfsrefdb.SharedLockException;
+
 /**
  * {@code GlobalRefDbLockException} is an exception that can be thrown when interacting with the
  * global-refdb to represent the inability to lock or acquire a resource.
  */
-public class GlobalRefDbLockException extends RuntimeException {
+public class GlobalRefDbLockException extends SharedLockException {
   private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
   /**
@@ -30,6 +32,6 @@
    * @param cause the cause of the locking failure
    */
   public GlobalRefDbLockException(String project, String refName, Exception cause) {
-    super(String.format("Unable to lock ref %s on project %s", refName, project), cause);
+    super(project, refName, cause);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/validation/dfsrefdb/SharedLockException.java b/src/main/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/validation/dfsrefdb/SharedLockException.java
index 5963da2..1286ed3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/validation/dfsrefdb/SharedLockException.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/validation/dfsrefdb/SharedLockException.java
@@ -14,10 +14,10 @@
 
 package com.gerritforge.gerrit.globalrefdb.validation.dfsrefdb;
 
-import java.io.IOException;
+import com.google.gerrit.git.LockFailureException;
 
 /** Unable to lock a project/ref resource. */
-public class SharedLockException extends IOException {
+public class SharedLockException extends LockFailureException {
   private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
   /**
@@ -29,6 +29,6 @@
    * @param cause the cause of the failure
    */
   public SharedLockException(String project, String refName, Exception cause) {
-    super(String.format("Unable to lock project %s on ref %s", project, refName), cause);
+    super(String.format("Unable to lock ref %s on project %s", refName, project), cause);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/GlobalRefDatabaseTest.java b/src/test/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/GlobalRefDatabaseTest.java
index 8ed1f4c..6284f42 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/GlobalRefDatabaseTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/GlobalRefDatabaseTest.java
@@ -95,26 +95,28 @@
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void shouldReturnIsUpToDateWhenProjectDoesNotExistsInTheGlobalRefDB() {
+  public void shouldReturnIsUpToDateWhenProjectDoesNotExistsInTheGlobalRefDB()
+      throws GlobalRefDbLockException {
     assertThat(objectUnderTest.isUpToDate(project, initialRef)).isTrue();
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void shouldReturnIsUpToDate() {
+  public void shouldReturnIsUpToDate() throws GlobalRefDbLockException {
     objectUnderTest.compareAndPut(project, nullRef, objectId1);
 
     assertThat(objectUnderTest.isUpToDate(project, ref1)).isTrue();
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void shouldReturnIsNotUpToDateWhenLocalRepoIsOutdated() {
+  public void shouldReturnIsNotUpToDateWhenLocalRepoIsOutdated() throws GlobalRefDbLockException {
     objectUnderTest.compareAndPut(project, nullRef, objectId1);
 
     assertThat(objectUnderTest.isUpToDate(project, nullRef)).isFalse();
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void shouldReturnIsNotUpToDateWhenLocalRepoIsAheadOfTheGlobalRefDB() {
+  public void shouldReturnIsNotUpToDateWhenLocalRepoIsAheadOfTheGlobalRefDB()
+      throws GlobalRefDbLockException {
     objectUnderTest.compareAndPut(project, nullRef, objectId1);
 
     assertThat(objectUnderTest.isUpToDate(project, ref2)).isFalse();
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/validation/SharedRefDatabaseWrapperTest.java b/src/test/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/validation/SharedRefDatabaseWrapperTest.java
index 884090e..5240f2c 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/validation/SharedRefDatabaseWrapperTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/validation/SharedRefDatabaseWrapperTest.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
+import com.gerritforge.gerrit.globalrefdb.GlobalRefDbLockException;
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
 import com.google.gerrit.metrics.Timer0.Context;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
@@ -58,14 +59,16 @@
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void shouldUpdateLockRefExecutionTimeMetricWhenLockRefIsCalled() {
+  public void shouldUpdateLockRefExecutionTimeMetricWhenLockRefIsCalled()
+      throws GlobalRefDbLockException {
     objectUnderTest.lockRef(projectName, refName);
     verify(metrics).startLockRefExecutionTime();
     verify(context).close();
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void shouldUpdateIsUpToDateExecutionTimeMetricWhenIsUpToDate() {
+  public void shouldUpdateIsUpToDateExecutionTimeMetricWhenIsUpToDate()
+      throws GlobalRefDbLockException {
     objectUnderTest.isUpToDate(projectName, ref);
     verify(metrics).startIsUpToDateExecutionTime();
     verify(context).close();
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/validation/dfsrefdb/NoopSharedRefDatabaseTest.java b/src/test/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/validation/dfsrefdb/NoopSharedRefDatabaseTest.java
index 8c749ea..eaeb6d4 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/validation/dfsrefdb/NoopSharedRefDatabaseTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/gerritforge/gerrit/globalrefdb/validation/dfsrefdb/NoopSharedRefDatabaseTest.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
 
+import com.gerritforge.gerrit.globalrefdb.GlobalRefDbLockException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Ref;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@
   private NoopSharedRefDatabase objectUnderTest = new NoopSharedRefDatabase();
 
   @Test
-  public void isUpToDateShouldAlwaysReturnTrue() {
+  public void isUpToDateShouldAlwaysReturnTrue() throws GlobalRefDbLockException {
     assertThat(objectUnderTest.isUpToDate(A_TEST_PROJECT_NAME_KEY, sampleRef)).isTrue();
   }