diff --git a/synapse/api/errors.py b/synapse/api/errors.py
index 00416468584c..921c4577384f 100644
--- a/synapse/api/errors.py
+++ b/synapse/api/errors.py
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ class Codes(object):
     CAPTCHA_NEEDED = "M_CAPTCHA_NEEDED"
     CAPTCHA_INVALID = "M_CAPTCHA_INVALID"
     MISSING_PARAM = "M_MISSING_PARAM"
+    INVALID_PARAM = "M_INVALID_PARAM"
     TOO_LARGE = "M_TOO_LARGE"
     EXCLUSIVE = "M_EXCLUSIVE"
     THREEPID_AUTH_FAILED = "M_THREEPID_AUTH_FAILED"
diff --git a/synapse/storage/filtering.py b/synapse/storage/filtering.py
index 5248736816ba..a2ccc66ea7c8 100644
--- a/synapse/storage/filtering.py
+++ b/synapse/storage/filtering.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 from twisted.internet import defer
 
 from ._base import SQLBaseStore
+from synapse.api.errors import SynapseError, Codes
 from synapse.util.caches.descriptors import cachedInlineCallbacks
 
 import simplejson as json
@@ -24,6 +25,13 @@
 class FilteringStore(SQLBaseStore):
     @cachedInlineCallbacks(num_args=2)
     def get_user_filter(self, user_localpart, filter_id):
+        # filter_id is BIGINT UNSIGNED, so if it isn't a number, fail
+        # with a coherent error message rather than 500 M_UNKNOWN.
+        try:
+            int(filter_id)
+        except ValueError:
+            raise SynapseError(400, "Invalid filter ID", Codes.INVALID_PARAM)
+
         def_json = yield self._simple_select_one_onecol(
             table="user_filters",
             keyvalues={