diff --git a/apps/api/v1/lib/validations/booking.ts b/apps/api/v1/lib/validations/booking.ts
index 65f73fe8de..e9dda7865b 100644
--- a/apps/api/v1/lib/validations/booking.ts
+++ b/apps/api/v1/lib/validations/booking.ts
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ export const schemaBookingReadPublic = Booking.extend({
       timeZone: true,
       locale: true,
     })
-    .optional(),
+    .nullish(),
   payment: z
     .array(
       _PaymentModel.pick({
diff --git a/apps/api/v1/pages/api/bookings/_post.ts b/apps/api/v1/pages/api/bookings/_post.ts
index 9fe55b773a..919a7a2bfc 100644
--- a/apps/api/v1/pages/api/bookings/_post.ts
+++ b/apps/api/v1/pages/api/bookings/_post.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import type { NextApiRequest } from "next";
 
 import getBookingDataSchemaForApi from "@calcom/features/bookings/lib/getBookingDataSchemaForApi";
 import handleNewBooking from "@calcom/features/bookings/lib/handleNewBooking";
+import { ErrorCode } from "@calcom/lib/errorCodes";
+import { HttpError } from "@calcom/lib/http-error";
 import { defaultResponder } from "@calcom/lib/server";
 
 import { getAccessibleUsers } from "~/lib/utils/retrieveScopedAccessibleUsers";
@@ -218,7 +220,16 @@ async function handler(req: NextApiRequest) {
     req.userId = requestedUserId || userId;
   }
 
-  return await handleNewBooking(req, getBookingDataSchemaForApi);
+  try {
+    return await handleNewBooking(req, getBookingDataSchemaForApi);
+  } catch (error: unknown) {
+    const knownError = error as Error;
+    if (knownError?.message === ErrorCode.NoAvailableUsersFound) {
+      throw new HttpError({ statusCode: 400, message: knownError.message });
+    }
+
+    throw error;
+  }
 }
 
 export default defaultResponder(handler);