diff --git a/astroquery/vo_conesearch/vos_catalog.py b/astroquery/vo_conesearch/vos_catalog.py
index 27059b2db9..966419d3da 100644
--- a/astroquery/vo_conesearch/vos_catalog.py
+++ b/astroquery/vo_conesearch/vos_catalog.py
@@ -660,8 +660,10 @@ def get_remote_catalog_db(dbname, cache=True, verbose=True):
         A database of VO services.
 
     """
+    filename = urljoin_keep_path(conf.vos_baseurl, dbname + '.json')
+    raise ValueError(f'HERE {filename}')  # DEBUG
     return VOSDatabase.from_json(
-        urljoin_keep_path(conf.vos_baseurl, dbname + '.json'),
+        filename),
         encoding='utf8', cache=cache, show_progress=verbose)