diff --git a/mongodb/src/main/java/org/restheart/mongodb/handlers/collection/GetCollectionHandler.java b/mongodb/src/main/java/org/restheart/mongodb/handlers/collection/GetCollectionHandler.java
index 2470ffd0a..3cf31dba5 100644
--- a/mongodb/src/main/java/org/restheart/mongodb/handlers/collection/GetCollectionHandler.java
+++ b/mongodb/src/main/java/org/restheart/mongodb/handlers/collection/GetCollectionHandler.java
@@ -22,8 +22,6 @@
 
 import java.util.Optional;
 
-import com.mongodb.MongoException;
-import io.undertow.server.HttpServerExchange;
 import org.bson.BsonArray;
 import org.bson.BsonDocument;
 import org.bson.json.JsonParseException;
@@ -37,6 +35,8 @@
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
+import io.undertow.server.HttpServerExchange;
+
 /**
  *
  * @author Andrea Di Cesare {@literal <andrea@softinstigate.com>}
@@ -114,30 +114,19 @@ public void handleRequest(HttpServerExchange exchange) throws Exception {
                 return;
             }
 
-            try {
-                data = dbs.getCollectionData(
-                    Optional.ofNullable(request.getClientSession()),
-                    request.rsOps(),
-                    request.getDBName(),
-                    request.getCollectionName(),
-                    request.getPage(),
-                    request.getPagesize(),
-                    sort,
-                    filter,
-                    request.getHintDocument(),
-                    request.getProjectionDocument(),
-                    request.isCache());
-            } catch (MongoException me) {
-                if (me.getMessage().matches(".*Can't canonicalize query.*")) {
-                    // error with the filter expression during query execution
-                    LOGGER.debug("invalid filter expression {}", request.getFilter(), me);
-                    MongoResponse.of(exchange).setInError(HttpStatus.SC_BAD_REQUEST, "wrong request, filter expression is invalid", me);
-                    next(exchange);
-                    return;
-                } else {
-                    throw me;
-                }
-            }
+            data = dbs.getCollectionData(
+                Optional.ofNullable(request.getClientSession()),
+                request.rsOps(),
+                request.getDBName(),
+                request.getCollectionName(),
+                request.getPage(),
+                request.getPagesize(),
+                sort,
+                filter,
+                request.getHintDocument(),
+                request.getProjectionDocument(),
+                request.isCache());
+
         }
 
         if (exchange.isComplete()) {
diff --git a/mongodb/src/main/java/org/restheart/mongodb/utils/ResponseHelper.java b/mongodb/src/main/java/org/restheart/mongodb/utils/ResponseHelper.java
index c542d8f47..5c6eb14ba 100644
--- a/mongodb/src/main/java/org/restheart/mongodb/utils/ResponseHelper.java
+++ b/mongodb/src/main/java/org/restheart/mongodb/utils/ResponseHelper.java
@@ -163,6 +163,13 @@ public static int getHttpStatusFromErrorCode(int code) {
             case 15998 -> HttpStatus.SC_BAD_REQUEST;
             // 31249 Path collision
             case 31249 -> HttpStatus.SC_BAD_REQUEST;
+            // 168 InvalidPipelineOperator
+            case 168 -> HttpStatus.SC_BAD_REQUEST;
+            // 17276 Use of undefined variable
+            case 17276 -> HttpStatus.SC_BAD_REQUEST;
+            // 1728, Can't canonicalize query: BadValue Projection cannot have a mix of inclusion and exclusion (old error message)
+            case 17287, 31254 -> HttpStatus.SC_BAD_REQUEST;
+            // 31254 Cannot do exclusion on field x in inclusion projection
             default -> HttpStatus.SC_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR;
         };
     }
@@ -179,14 +186,14 @@ public static String getMessageFromMongoException(MongoException me) {
             // Query failed with error code 51091 and error message 'Regular expression is invalid: unmatched parentheses'
             // Query failed with error code 51108 with name 'Location51108' and error message 'invalid flag in regex options: z' on server 127.0.0.1:27017'
             // Command failed with error 31249 (Location31249): 'Path collision at page.children.children.displayname remaining portion children.children.displayname' on server...
-            case 2, 51091, 51108, 31249 -> {
+            case 2, 51091, 51108, 31249, 168, 17276, 31254 -> {
                 var msg = me.getMessage();
 
                 var b = msg.indexOf(": '");
                 var e = msg.indexOf("' on server");
 
                 if (b >= 0 && e >= 0) {
-                    yield "Invalid filter: " + msg.substring(b+3, e).strip();
+                    yield "Invalid query parameter: " + msg.substring(b+3, e).strip();
                 } else {
                     yield msg;
                 }