diff --git a/system/athena/athenad.py b/system/athena/athenad.py
index e78fc89bd..c31f1ef28 100755
--- a/system/athena/athenad.py
+++ b/system/athena/athenad.py
@@ -597,11 +597,7 @@ def startStream(sdp: str, video_enabled: bool | None = None) -> dict:
     resp = WEBRTCD_SESS.post(f"http://localhost:{WEBRTCD_PORT}/stream", json=asdict(body), timeout=10)
     t_end = time.monotonic()
     if not resp.ok:
-      try:
-        error_body = resp.json()
-        raise Exception(error_body.get("message", f"webrtcd returned {resp.status_code}"))
-      except ValueError:
-        resp.raise_for_status()
+      raise Exception(resp.json().get("message", f"webrtcd returned {resp.status_code}"))
     ret = resp.json()
     ret["time"] = (t_end - t_start) * 1000
     return ret
diff --git a/system/webrtc/webrtcd.py b/system/webrtc/webrtcd.py
index f4f58c06d..8d29dafdd 100755
--- a/system/webrtc/webrtcd.py
+++ b/system/webrtc/webrtcd.py
@@ -400,12 +400,6 @@ async def get_stream(request: 'web.Request'):
     stream_dict[session.identifier] = session
     try:
       answer = await session.get_answer()
-    except ValueError as e:
-      await session.stop()
-      raise web.HTTPBadRequest(
-        text=json.dumps({"error": "invalid_sdp", "message": str(e)}),
-        content_type="application/json",
-      ) from e
     except Exception:
       await session.stop()
       stream_dict.pop(session.identifier, None)
@@ -450,13 +444,24 @@ async def on_shutdown(app: 'web.Application'):
   del app['streams']
 
 
+@web.middleware
+async def error_middleware(request: 'web.Request', handler):
+  try:
+    return await handler(request)
+  except web.HTTPException:
+    raise  # intentional responses (400/404/etc.) pass through untouched
+  except Exception as e:
+    logging.getLogger("webrtcd").exception("Unhandled error handling %s", request.path)
+    return web.json_response({"error": "exception", "message": f"{type(e).__name__}: {e}"}, status=500)
+
+
 def webrtcd_thread(host: str, port: int, debug: bool):
   logging.basicConfig(level=logging.CRITICAL, handlers=[logging.StreamHandler()])
   logging_level = logging.DEBUG if debug else logging.INFO
   logging.getLogger("WebRTCStream").setLevel(logging_level)
   logging.getLogger("webrtcd").setLevel(logging_level)
 
-  app = web.Application()
+  app = web.Application(middlewares=[error_middleware])
 
   app['streams'] = dict()
   app['stream_lock'] = asyncio.Lock()