diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/routes/generate_from_jobparams.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/routes/generate_from_jobparams.ts
index 49868bb7ad5d5..56622617586f7 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/routes/generate_from_jobparams.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/routes/generate_from_jobparams.ts
@@ -82,16 +82,21 @@ export function registerGenerateFromJobParams(
       }
 
       const { exportType } = request.params;
+      let jobParams;
       let response;
       try {
-        const jobParams = rison.decode(jobParamsRison) as object | null;
+        jobParams = rison.decode(jobParamsRison) as object | null;
         if (!jobParams) {
           throw new Error('missing jobParams!');
         }
-        response = await handler(exportType, jobParams, legacyRequest, h);
       } catch (err) {
         throw boom.badRequest(`invalid rison: ${jobParamsRison}`);
       }
+      try {
+        response = await handler(exportType, jobParams, legacyRequest, h);
+      } catch (err) {
+        throw handleError(exportType, err);
+      }
       return response;
     },
   });
diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/routes/generation.test.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/routes/generation.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..54d9671692c5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/server/routes/generation.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License;
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the Elastic License.
+ */
+
+import Hapi from 'hapi';
+import { createMockReportingCore } from '../../test_helpers';
+import { Logger, ServerFacade } from '../../types';
+import { ReportingCore, ReportingSetupDeps } from '../../server/types';
+
+jest.mock('./lib/authorized_user_pre_routing', () => ({
+  authorizedUserPreRoutingFactory: () => () => ({}),
+}));
+jest.mock('./lib/reporting_feature_pre_routing', () => ({
+  reportingFeaturePreRoutingFactory: () => () => () => ({
+    jobTypes: ['unencodedJobType', 'base64EncodedJobType'],
+  }),
+}));
+
+import { registerJobGenerationRoutes } from './generation';
+
+let mockServer: Hapi.Server;
+let mockReportingPlugin: ReportingCore;
+const mockLogger = ({
+  error: jest.fn(),
+  debug: jest.fn(),
+} as unknown) as Logger;
+
+beforeEach(async () => {
+  mockServer = new Hapi.Server({
+    debug: false,
+    port: 8080,
+    routes: { log: { collect: true } },
+  });
+  mockServer.config = () => ({ get: jest.fn(), has: jest.fn() });
+  mockReportingPlugin = await createMockReportingCore();
+  mockReportingPlugin.getEnqueueJob = async () =>
+    jest.fn().mockImplementation(() => ({ toJSON: () => '{ "job": "data" }' }));
+});
+
+const mockPlugins = {
+  elasticsearch: {
+    adminClient: { callAsInternalUser: jest.fn() },
+  },
+  security: null,
+};
+
+const getErrorsFromRequest = (request: Hapi.Request) => {
+  // @ts-ignore error property doesn't exist on RequestLog
+  return request.logs.filter(log => log.tags.includes('error')).map(log => log.error); // NOTE: error stack is available
+};
+
+test(`returns 400 if there are no job params`, async () => {
+  registerJobGenerationRoutes(
+    mockReportingPlugin,
+    (mockServer as unknown) as ServerFacade,
+    (mockPlugins as unknown) as ReportingSetupDeps,
+    mockLogger
+  );
+
+  const options = {
+    method: 'POST',
+    url: '/api/reporting/generate/printablePdf',
+  };
+
+  const { payload, request } = await mockServer.inject(options);
+  expect(payload).toMatchInlineSnapshot(
+    `"{\\"statusCode\\":400,\\"error\\":\\"Bad Request\\",\\"message\\":\\"A jobParams RISON string is required\\"}"`
+  );
+
+  const errorLogs = getErrorsFromRequest(request);
+  expect(errorLogs).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+    Array [
+      [Error: A jobParams RISON string is required],
+    ]
+  `);
+});
+
+test(`returns 400 if job params is invalid`, async () => {
+  registerJobGenerationRoutes(
+    mockReportingPlugin,
+    (mockServer as unknown) as ServerFacade,
+    (mockPlugins as unknown) as ReportingSetupDeps,
+    mockLogger
+  );
+
+  const options = {
+    method: 'POST',
+    url: '/api/reporting/generate/printablePdf',
+    payload: { jobParams: `foo:` },
+  };
+
+  const { payload, request } = await mockServer.inject(options);
+  expect(payload).toMatchInlineSnapshot(
+    `"{\\"statusCode\\":400,\\"error\\":\\"Bad Request\\",\\"message\\":\\"invalid rison: foo:\\"}"`
+  );
+
+  const errorLogs = getErrorsFromRequest(request);
+  expect(errorLogs).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+    Array [
+      [Error: invalid rison: foo:],
+    ]
+  `);
+});
+
+test(`returns 500 if job handler throws an error`, async () => {
+  mockReportingPlugin.getEnqueueJob = async () =>
+    jest.fn().mockImplementation(() => ({
+      toJSON: () => {
+        throw new Error('you found me');
+      },
+    }));
+
+  registerJobGenerationRoutes(
+    mockReportingPlugin,
+    (mockServer as unknown) as ServerFacade,
+    (mockPlugins as unknown) as ReportingSetupDeps,
+    mockLogger
+  );
+
+  const options = {
+    method: 'POST',
+    url: '/api/reporting/generate/printablePdf',
+    payload: { jobParams: `abc` },
+  };
+
+  const { payload, request } = await mockServer.inject(options);
+  expect(payload).toMatchInlineSnapshot(
+    `"{\\"statusCode\\":500,\\"error\\":\\"Internal Server Error\\",\\"message\\":\\"An internal server error occurred\\"}"`
+  );
+
+  const errorLogs = getErrorsFromRequest(request);
+  expect(errorLogs).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+    Array [
+      [Error: you found me],
+      [Error: you found me],
+    ]
+  `);
+});