diff --git a/schema-registry/src/main/java/io/streamnative/pulsar/handlers/kop/schemaregistry/HttpJsonRequestProcessor.java b/schema-registry/src/main/java/io/streamnative/pulsar/handlers/kop/schemaregistry/HttpJsonRequestProcessor.java
index 81d96326a4..51c9cfadd7 100644
--- a/schema-registry/src/main/java/io/streamnative/pulsar/handlers/kop/schemaregistry/HttpJsonRequestProcessor.java
+++ b/schema-registry/src/main/java/io/streamnative/pulsar/handlers/kop/schemaregistry/HttpJsonRequestProcessor.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.FullHttpRequest;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.FullHttpResponse;
 import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpResponseStatus;
+import io.streamnative.pulsar.handlers.kop.schemaregistry.model.impl.SchemaStorageException;
 import java.io.DataInput;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
@@ -87,8 +88,16 @@ public CompletableFuture<FullHttpResponse> processRequest(FullHttpRequest reques
                     return buildJsonResponse(resp, RESPONSE_CONTENT_TYPE);
                 }
             }).exceptionally(err -> {
-                log.error("Error while processing request", err);
-                return buildJsonErrorResponse(err);
+                Throwable throwable = err;
+                while (throwable.getCause() != null) {
+                    throwable = throwable.getCause();
+                }
+                if (throwable instanceof SchemaStorageException e) {
+                    return buildErrorResponse(e.getHttpStatusCode(), e.getMessage());
+                } else {
+                    log.error("Error while processing request", err);
+                    return buildJsonErrorResponse(err);
+                }
             });
         } catch (IOException err) {
             log.error("Cannot decode request", err);
diff --git a/tests/src/test/java/io/streamnative/pulsar/handlers/kop/KafkaAuthorizationTestBase.java b/tests/src/test/java/io/streamnative/pulsar/handlers/kop/KafkaAuthorizationTestBase.java
index bd0d8a6ee9..4d7004a396 100644
--- a/tests/src/test/java/io/streamnative/pulsar/handlers/kop/KafkaAuthorizationTestBase.java
+++ b/tests/src/test/java/io/streamnative/pulsar/handlers/kop/KafkaAuthorizationTestBase.java
@@ -21,10 +21,12 @@
 import static org.testng.AssertJUnit.fail;
 
 import com.google.common.collect.Sets;
+import io.confluent.kafka.schemaregistry.client.rest.exceptions.RestClientException;
 import io.confluent.kafka.serializers.KafkaAvroDeserializer;
 import io.confluent.kafka.serializers.KafkaAvroSerializer;
 import io.confluent.kafka.serializers.KafkaAvroSerializerConfig;
 import io.jsonwebtoken.SignatureAlgorithm;
+import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpResponseStatus;
 import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -754,6 +756,20 @@ public void testAvroProduceAndConsumeWithAuth(boolean withTokenPrefix) throws Ex
         consumer.close();
     }
 
+    @Test(timeOut = 30000)
+    public void testSchemaNoAuth() {
+        final KafkaProducer<Integer, Object> producer = createAvroProducer(false, null);
+        try {
+            producer.send(new ProducerRecord<>("test-avro-wrong-auth", createAvroRecord())).get();
+            fail();
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            assertTrue(e.getCause() instanceof RestClientException);
+            var restException = (RestClientException) e.getCause();
+            assertEquals(restException.getErrorCode(), HttpResponseStatus.UNAUTHORIZED.code());
+            assertTrue(restException.getMessage().contains("Missing AUTHORIZATION header"));
+        }
+        producer.close();
+    }
 
     private IndexedRecord createAvroRecord() {
         String userSchema = "{\"namespace\": \"example.avro\", \"type\": \"record\", "
@@ -766,6 +782,10 @@ private IndexedRecord createAvroRecord() {
     }
 
     private KafkaProducer<Integer, Object> createAvroProducer(boolean withTokenPrefix) {
+        return createAvroProducer(withTokenPrefix, userToken);
+    }
+
+    private KafkaProducer<Integer, Object> createAvroProducer(boolean withTokenPrefix, String schemaToken) {
         Properties props = new Properties();
         props.put(ProducerConfig.BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS_CONFIG, "localhost:" + getClientPort());
         props.put(ProducerConfig.KEY_SERIALIZER_CLASS_CONFIG, IntegerSerializer.class);
@@ -782,11 +802,11 @@ private KafkaProducer<Integer, Object> createAvroProducer(boolean withTokenPrefi
         props.put("security.protocol", "SASL_PLAINTEXT");
         props.put("sasl.mechanism", "PLAIN");
 
-
-        props.put(KafkaAvroSerializerConfig.BASIC_AUTH_CREDENTIALS_SOURCE, "USER_INFO");
-
-        props.put(KafkaAvroSerializerConfig.USER_INFO_CONFIG,
-                username + ":" + (withTokenPrefix ? password : userToken));
+        if (schemaToken != null) {
+            props.put(KafkaAvroSerializerConfig.BASIC_AUTH_CREDENTIALS_SOURCE, "USER_INFO");
+            props.put(KafkaAvroSerializerConfig.USER_INFO_CONFIG,
+                    username + ":" + (withTokenPrefix ? password : userToken));
+        }
 
         return new KafkaProducer<>(props);
     }