diff --git a/query-engine/core-tests/tests/query_validation_tests/postgres_basic/unknown_nested_selection_field.query.json b/query-engine/core-tests/tests/query_validation_tests/postgres_basic/unknown_nested_selection_field.query.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c2d578abe45e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/query-engine/core-tests/tests/query_validation_tests/postgres_basic/unknown_nested_selection_field.query.json
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{
+  "action": "findMany",
+  "modelName": "User",
+  "query": {
+    "selection": {
+      "notAField": {
+        "selection": {
+          "$scalars": true
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/query-engine/core-tests/tests/query_validation_tests/unknown_nested_selection_field.expected.json b/query-engine/core-tests/tests/query_validation_tests/unknown_nested_selection_field.expected.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ce64b25461dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/query-engine/core-tests/tests/query_validation_tests/unknown_nested_selection_field.expected.json
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+{
+  "is_panic": false,
+  "message": "Field 'notAField' not found in enclosing type 'User'",
+  "meta": {
+    "kind": "UnknownSelectionField",
+    "outputType": {
+      "name": "User",
+      "fields": [
+        {
+          "name": "id",
+          "typeName": "Int",
+          "isRelation": false
+        },
+        {
+          "name": "email",
+          "typeName": "String",
+          "isRelation": false
+        },
+        {
+          "name": "dob",
+          "typeName": "DateTime",
+          "isRelation": false
+        },
+        {
+          "name": "posts",
+          "typeName": "Post[]",
+          "isRelation": true
+        },
+        {
+          "name": "_count",
+          "typeName": "UserCountOutputType",
+          "isRelation": false
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "selectionPath": [
+      "findManyUser",
+      "notAField"
+    ]
+  },
+  "error_code": "P2009"
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/query-engine/request-handlers/src/protocols/json/protocol_adapter.rs b/query-engine/request-handlers/src/protocols/json/protocol_adapter.rs
index 4bf97d574bd5..650f4e1a8bb9 100644
--- a/query-engine/request-handlers/src/protocols/json/protocol_adapter.rs
+++ b/query-engine/request-handlers/src/protocols/json/protocol_adapter.rs
@@ -101,26 +101,23 @@ impl<'a> JsonProtocolAdapter<'a> {
                 // <field_name>: { selection: { ... }, arguments: { ... } }
                 crate::SelectionSetValue::Nested(nested_query) => {
                     if field.field_type().as_object_type().is_some() {
-                        let schema_field = field
+                        if let Some(schema_field) = field
                             .field_type()
                             .as_object_type()
                             .and_then(|t| t.find_field(&selection_name))
-                            .ok_or_else(|| {
-                                HandlerError::query_conversion(format!(
-                                    "Unknown nested field '{}' for operation {} does not match any query.",
-                                    selection_name,
-                                    field.name()
-                                ))
-                            })?;
-
-                        let field = container.and_then(|container| container.find_field(schema_field.name()));
-                        let nested_container = field.map(|f| f.related_container());
-
-                        selection.push_nested_selection(self.convert_selection(
-                            schema_field,
-                            nested_container.as_ref(),
-                            nested_query,
-                        )?);
+                        {
+                            let field = container.and_then(|container| container.find_field(schema_field.name()));
+                            let nested_container = field.map(|f| f.related_container());
+
+                            selection.push_nested_selection(self.convert_selection(
+                                schema_field,
+                                nested_container.as_ref(),
+                                nested_query,
+                            )?);
+                        } else {
+                            // Unknown nested field that we keep around so that parser can fail with a rich error.
+                            selection.push_nested_selection(Selection::with_name(selection_name));
+                        }
                     }
                 }
             }