diff --git a/src/apps/geoserver/wms/src/main/java/org/geoserver/cloud/wms/app/StatusCodeWmsExceptionHandler.java b/src/apps/geoserver/wms/src/main/java/org/geoserver/cloud/wms/app/StatusCodeWmsExceptionHandler.java
index 34c5b0ed..c0181554 100644
--- a/src/apps/geoserver/wms/src/main/java/org/geoserver/cloud/wms/app/StatusCodeWmsExceptionHandler.java
+++ b/src/apps/geoserver/wms/src/main/java/org/geoserver/cloud/wms/app/StatusCodeWmsExceptionHandler.java
@@ -62,13 +62,13 @@ public class StatusCodeWmsExceptionHandler extends WMSServiceExceptionHandler {
 
     @Override
     public void handleServiceException(ServiceException exception, Request request) {
-        setStausCode(exception, request);
+        setStatusCode(exception, request);
         super.handleServiceException(exception, request);
     }
 
-    private void setStausCode(ServiceException exception, Request request) {
+    protected void setStatusCode(ServiceException exception, Request request) {
         if (shallSetStatus(request)) {
-            HttpStatus status = determineStatucCode(exception);
+            HttpStatus status = determineStatusCode(exception);
             HttpServletResponse response = request.getHttpResponse();
             response.setStatus(status.value());
         }
@@ -83,22 +83,31 @@ public class StatusCodeWmsExceptionHandler extends WMSServiceExceptionHandler {
         return propertyResolver.getProperty(ENABLED_PROPERTY, Boolean.class, Boolean.FALSE);
     }
 
-    private HttpStatus determineStatucCode(ServiceException exception) {
-        // RenderedImageMapOutputFormat does not set a ServiceException code in case of
-        // rendering timeout, so check the message:
-        if (exception.getMessage() != null
-                && exception.getMessage().startsWith("This request used more time than allowed")) {
-            /*
-             * The 503 (Service Unavailable) status code indicates that the server is
-             * currently unable to handle the request due to a temporary overload or
-             * scheduled maintenance, which will likely be alleviated after some delay.
-             */
-            return HttpStatus.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE;
+    private HttpStatus determineStatusCode(ServiceException exception) {
+        final String code = exception.getCode();
+        final String message = exception.getMessage();
+        if (code == null && message != null) {
+            // Some ServiceException do not have code, so check the message instead
+            if (message.startsWith("This request used more time than allowed")) {
+                /*
+                 * RenderedImageMapOutputFormat (rendering timeout)
+                 * The 503 (Service Unavailable) status code indicates that the server is
+                 * currently unable to handle the request due to a temporary overload or
+                 * scheduled maintenance, which will likely be alleviated after some delay.
+                 */
+                return HttpStatus.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE;
+            } else if (message.contains("Content has been requested in one of the following languages:")) {
+                // Capabilities_1_3_0_Response (the language requested with the query param ACCEPTLANGUAGES is not
+                // supported)
+                return HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST;
+            }
+        } else if (code != null) {
+            return switch (code) {
+                case MISSING_PARAMETER_VALUE, INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE, "InvalidCRS" -> HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST;
+                case SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE, MAX_MEMORY_EXCEEDED -> HttpStatus.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE;
+                default -> HttpStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR;
+            };
         }
-        return switch (exception.getCode()) {
-            case MISSING_PARAMETER_VALUE, INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE, "InvalidCRS" -> HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST;
-            case SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE, MAX_MEMORY_EXCEEDED -> HttpStatus.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE;
-            default -> HttpStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR;
-        };
+        return HttpStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/apps/geoserver/wms/src/test/java/org/geoserver/cloud/wms/app/StatusCodeWmsExceptionHandlerTest.java b/src/apps/geoserver/wms/src/test/java/org/geoserver/cloud/wms/app/StatusCodeWmsExceptionHandlerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..669cb84c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/apps/geoserver/wms/src/test/java/org/geoserver/cloud/wms/app/StatusCodeWmsExceptionHandlerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+/* (c) 2025 Open Source Geospatial Foundation - all rights reserved
+ * This code is licensed under the GPL 2.0 license, available at the root
+ * application directory.
+ */
+
+package org.geoserver.cloud.wms.app;
+
+import static org.geoserver.platform.ServiceException.INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE;
+import static org.geoserver.platform.ServiceException.MAX_MEMORY_EXCEEDED;
+import static org.geoserver.platform.ServiceException.MISSING_PARAMETER_VALUE;
+import static org.geoserver.platform.ServiceException.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.stream.Stream;
+import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
+import org.geoserver.config.GeoServer;
+import org.geoserver.ows.Request;
+import org.geoserver.platform.ServiceException;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.Arguments;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.MethodSource;
+import org.springframework.core.env.PropertyResolver;
+import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;
+
+public class StatusCodeWmsExceptionHandlerTest {
+    private StatusCodeWmsExceptionHandler handler;
+    private PropertyResolver propertyResolver = mock(PropertyResolver.class);
+    private GeoServer geoServer = mock(GeoServer.class);
+
+    @BeforeEach
+    void setUp() {
+        when(propertyResolver.getProperty("geoserver.wms.exceptions.w3cstatus", Boolean.class, Boolean.FALSE))
+                .thenReturn(true);
+        handler = new StatusCodeWmsExceptionHandler(List.of(), geoServer, propertyResolver);
+    }
+
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @MethodSource("exceptionCodeToHttpStatus")
+    void setStatusCodeWithExceptionCodeTest(String exceptionCode, HttpStatus expectedStatus) {
+        ServiceException serviceException = new ServiceException("Some message", exceptionCode);
+        Request request = mock(Request.class);
+        HttpServletResponse response = mock(HttpServletResponse.class);
+        when(request.getHttpResponse()).thenReturn(response);
+
+        handler.setStatusCode(serviceException, request);
+
+        verify(response).setStatus(expectedStatus.value());
+    }
+
+    private static Stream<Arguments> exceptionCodeToHttpStatus() {
+        return Stream.of(
+                Arguments.of(MISSING_PARAMETER_VALUE, HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST),
+                Arguments.of(INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE, HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST),
+                Arguments.of("InvalidCRS", HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST),
+                Arguments.of(SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE, HttpStatus.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE),
+                Arguments.of(MAX_MEMORY_EXCEEDED, HttpStatus.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE),
+                Arguments.of("SomeUnknownCode", HttpStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR));
+    }
+
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @MethodSource("exceptionMessageToHttpStatus")
+    void setStatusCodeWithExceptionMessageTest(String message, HttpStatus expectedStatus) {
+        ServiceException exception = new ServiceException(message);
+        Request request = mock(Request.class);
+        HttpServletResponse response = mock(HttpServletResponse.class);
+        when(request.getHttpResponse()).thenReturn(response);
+
+        handler.setStatusCode(exception, request);
+
+        verify(response).setStatus(expectedStatus.value());
+    }
+
+    private static Stream<Arguments> exceptionMessageToHttpStatus() {
+        return Stream.of(
+                Arguments.of("This request used more time than allowed", HttpStatus.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE),
+                Arguments.of("Content has been requested in one of the following languages:", HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST),
+                Arguments.of("Unknown message", HttpStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR));
+    }
+}