diff --git a/papermerge/core/routers/custom_fields.py b/papermerge/core/routers/custom_fields.py
index 7838dd807..d75e80103 100644
--- a/papermerge/core/routers/custom_fields.py
+++ b/papermerge/core/routers/custom_fields.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 from typing import Annotated
 
 from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, Security
-from sqlalchemy.exc import NoResultFound
+from sqlalchemy.exc import IntegrityError, NoResultFound
 
 from papermerge.core import db, schemas, utils
 from papermerge.core.auth import get_current_user, scopes
@@ -94,11 +94,8 @@ def create_custom_field(
             extra_data=cfield.extra_data,
             user_id=user.id,
         )
-    except Exception as e:
-        error_msg = str(e)
-        if "UNIQUE constraint failed" in error_msg:
-            raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="Custom field already exists")
-        raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail=error_msg)
+    except IntegrityError:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="Duplicate custom field name")
 
     return custom_field
 
diff --git a/tests/core/routes/test_custom_fields.py b/tests/core/routes/test_custom_fields.py
index 23cff85bf..96dc1dffa 100644
--- a/tests/core/routes/test_custom_fields.py
+++ b/tests/core/routes/test_custom_fields.py
@@ -48,6 +48,27 @@ def test_create_monetary_custom_field(
     assert response.status_code == 200, response.json()
 
 
+@pytest.mark.django_db(transaction=True)
+def test_custom_field_duplicate_name(
+    auth_api_client: AuthTestClient, db_session: Session
+):
+    """Make sure there is an error on custom field duplicate name"""
+    count_before = db_session.query(func.count(models.CustomField.id)).scalar()
+    assert count_before == 0
+
+    response = auth_api_client.post(
+        "/custom-fields/", json={"name": "cf1", "type": "int"}
+    )
+    assert response.status_code == 201, response.json()
+
+    # custom field with same name
+    response = auth_api_client.post(
+        "/custom-fields/", json={"name": "cf1", "type": "text"}
+    )
+    assert response.status_code == 400, response.json()
+    assert response.json() == {"detail": "Duplicate custom field name"}
+
+
 @pytest.mark.django_db(transaction=True)
 def test_update_custom_field(
     auth_api_client: AuthTestClient,