diff --git a/aider/coders/base_coder.py b/aider/coders/base_coder.py
index 4c9f8eca9..99137e2fa 100755
--- a/aider/coders/base_coder.py
+++ b/aider/coders/base_coder.py
@@ -953,7 +953,14 @@ class Coder:
 
 
 def check_model_availability(io, client, main_model):
-    available_models = client.models.list()
+    try:
+        available_models = client.models.list()
+    except openai.NotFoundError:
+        # Azure sometimes returns 404?
+        # https://discord.com/channels/1131200896827654144/1182327371232186459
+        io.tool_error("Unable to list available models, proceeding with {main_model.name}")
+        return True
+
     model_ids = sorted(model.id for model in available_models)
     if main_model.name in model_ids:
         return True
diff --git a/benchmark/benchmark.py b/benchmark/benchmark.py
index 6c8e5135d..6e8e8c664 100755
--- a/benchmark/benchmark.py
+++ b/benchmark/benchmark.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ from aider.coders import Coder
 from aider.dump import dump  # noqa: F401
 from aider.io import InputOutput
 
-BENCHMARK_DNAME = Path(os.environ["AIDER_BENCHMARK_DIR"])
+BENCHMARK_DNAME = Path(os.environ.get("AIDER_BENCHMARK_DIR", "tmp.benchmarks"))
 
 ORIGINAL_DNAME = BENCHMARK_DNAME / "exercism-python"