diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index edef8a7..5c9691f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ Create a virtual environment and run it:
 The API exposes the following endpoints:
 
   - GET `/items` — return views and downloads for all items that Solr knows about¹. Accepts `limit` and `page` query parameters for pagination of results.
-  - GET `/item/id` — return views and downloads for a single item (*id* must be a positive integer).
+  - GET `/item/id` — return views and downloads for a single item (*id* must be a positive integer). Returns HTTP 404 if an item id is not found.
 
 ¹ We are querying the Solr statistics core, which technically only knows about items that have either views or downloads.
 
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ The API exposes the following endpoints:
 - Add API documentation
 - Close up DB connection when gunicorn shuts down gracefully
 - Better logging
-- Return HTTP 404 when item_id is nonexistent
 - Tests
 
 ## License
diff --git a/app.py b/app.py
index 32de53e..f3833c2 100644
--- a/app.py
+++ b/app.py
@@ -47,17 +47,24 @@ class ItemResource:
 
         cursor = db.cursor()
         cursor.execute('SELECT views, downloads FROM items WHERE id={}'.format(item_id))
-        results = cursor.fetchone()
+        if cursor.rowcount == 0:
+            raise falcon.HTTPNotFound(
+                    title='Item not found',
+                    description='The item with id "{}" was not found.'.format(item_id)
+            )
+        else:
+            results = cursor.fetchone()
+
+            statistics = {
+                'id': item_id,
+                'views': results['views'],
+                'downloads': results['downloads']
+            }
+
+            resp.media = statistics
+
         cursor.close()
 
-        statistics = {
-            'id': item_id,
-            'views': results['views'],
-            'downloads': results['downloads']
-        }
-
-        resp.media = statistics
-
 api = falcon.API()
 api.add_route('/items', AllItemsResource())
 api.add_route('/item/{item_id:int}', ItemResource())