diff --git a/osbuild/solver/__init__.py b/osbuild/solver/__init__.py
index 27b3c3e7..64fd2778 100755
--- a/osbuild/solver/__init__.py
+++ b/osbuild/solver/__init__.py
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ class DepsolveError(SolverException):
     pass
 
 
+class InvalidRequestError(SolverException):
+    pass
+
+
 def modify_rootdir_path(path, root_dir):
     if path and root_dir:
         # if the root_dir is set, we need to translate the key path to be under this directory
diff --git a/tools/osbuild-depsolve-dnf b/tools/osbuild-depsolve-dnf
index 37f5c39f..98e4bf05 100755
--- a/tools/osbuild-depsolve-dnf
+++ b/tools/osbuild-depsolve-dnf
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import os.path
 import sys
 import tempfile
 
-from osbuild.solver import GPGKeyReadError, MarkingError, DepsolveError, RepoError
+from osbuild.solver import GPGKeyReadError, MarkingError, DepsolveError, RepoError, InvalidRequestError
 
 # Load the solver configuration
 config = {"use_dnf5": False}
@@ -92,6 +92,12 @@ def solve(request, cache_dir):
                 "kind": "DepsolveError",
                 "reason": f"There was a problem depsolving {', '.join(pkgs)}: {e}"
             }
+        except InvalidRequestError as e:
+            printe("error invalid request")
+            return None, {
+                "kind": "InvalidRequest",
+                "reason": str(e)
+            }
         except Exception as e:  # pylint: disable=broad-exception-caught
             printe("error traceback")
             import traceback