diff --git a/src/server/controllers/item/create-item-async-controller.ts b/src/server/controllers/item/create-item-async-controller.ts
index 5312c59c..72194e89 100644
--- a/src/server/controllers/item/create-item-async-controller.ts
+++ b/src/server/controllers/item/create-item-async-controller.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,10 @@ export const createItemAsyncController = async (req: IGetUserAuthInfoRequest, re
 
     logger.info(`Creating new item for scenario: ${scenarioName}`)
     try {
-        await upsertScenario(projectName, scenarioName)
+        const scenarioExists = await upsertScenario(projectName, scenarioName)
+        if (!scenarioExists) {
+            return res.status(StatusCode.NotFound).json({ message: "scenario not found" })
+        }
 
         const item = await db.one(createNewItem(
             scenarioName,
diff --git a/src/server/controllers/item/shared/upsert-scenario.ts b/src/server/controllers/item/shared/upsert-scenario.ts
index 94c4cc97..ce0475c7 100644
--- a/src/server/controllers/item/shared/upsert-scenario.ts
+++ b/src/server/controllers/item/shared/upsert-scenario.ts
@@ -4,13 +4,16 @@ import { createNewScenario, getScenario } from "../../../queries/scenario"
 import { logger } from "../../../../logger"
 
 export const upsertScenario = async (projectName, scenarioName) => {
+    const scenario = await db.oneOrNone(getScenario(projectName, scenarioName))
+    if (scenario) {
+        // scenario already exists
+        return true
+    }
     const project = await db.one(getProject(projectName))
     if (project.upsertScenario) {
-        const scenario = await db.oneOrNone(getScenario(projectName, scenarioName))
-        if (!scenario) {
-            logger.info(`Upserting scenario "${scenarioName}" into project "${projectName}"`)
-
-            await db.query(createNewScenario(projectName, scenarioName))
-        }
+        logger.info(`Creating new scenario "${scenarioName}" into project "${projectName}"`)
+        await db.query(createNewScenario(projectName, scenarioName))
+        return true
     }
+    return false
 }