diff --git a/pkg/expr/service_sql_test.go b/pkg/expr/service_sql_test.go
index 5730ca82fd0..2ad5df4baa8 100644
--- a/pkg/expr/service_sql_test.go
+++ b/pkg/expr/service_sql_test.go
@@ -92,6 +92,23 @@ func TestSQLService(t *testing.T) {
 		require.Error(t, rsp.Responses["B"].Error, "should return invalid sql error")
 		require.ErrorContains(t, rsp.Responses["B"].Error, "blocked function load_file")
 	})
+
+	t.Run("parse error should be returned", func(t *testing.T) {
+		s, req := newMockQueryService(resp,
+			newABSQLQueries(`SELECT * FROM A LIMIT sloth`),
+		)
+
+		s.features = featuremgmt.WithFeatures(featuremgmt.FlagSqlExpressions)
+
+		pl, err := s.BuildPipeline(req)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		rsp, err := s.ExecutePipeline(context.Background(), time.Now(), pl)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		require.Error(t, rsp.Responses["B"].Error, "should return sql error on parsing")
+		require.ErrorContains(t, rsp.Responses["B"].Error, "limit expression expected to be numeric")
+	})
 }
 
 func jsonEscape(input string) (string, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/expr/sql_command.go b/pkg/expr/sql_command.go
index 60d23f6e82f..069d2a39e91 100644
--- a/pkg/expr/sql_command.go
+++ b/pkg/expr/sql_command.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func NewSQLCommand(refID, rawSQL string) (*SQLCommand, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.Warn("invalid sql query", "sql", rawSQL, "error", err)
 		return nil, errutil.BadRequest("sql-invalid-sql",
-			errutil.WithPublicMessage("error reading SQL command"),
+			errutil.WithPublicMessage(fmt.Sprintf("invalid SQL query: %s", err)),
 		)
 	}
 	if len(tables) == 0 {