diff --git a/src/quartz_api/internal/middleware/auth.py b/src/quartz_api/internal/middleware/auth.py
index 8ed9425..d05293c 100644
--- a/src/quartz_api/internal/middleware/auth.py
+++ b/src/quartz_api/internal/middleware/auth.py
@@ -69,6 +69,14 @@ async def _proxy_dependency(
             try:
                 claims = await validator_dependency(request)
             except HTTPException as e:
+                if (
+                    e.status_code == 400 and
+                    isinstance(e.detail, dict) and
+                    e.detail.get("error") == "invalid_request"
+                ):
+                    # override to 403 if its an Auth0 invalid_request error
+                    raise HTTPException(status_code=403, detail=e.detail) from e
+
                 if e.status_code == 403:
                     log.info(f"Unauthorized access attempt: {e.detail}")