diff --git a/src/xtdb_http_multinode/core.clj b/src/xtdb_http_multinode/core.clj
index 0f750ab..de862d6 100644
--- a/src/xtdb_http_multinode/core.clj
+++ b/src/xtdb_http_multinode/core.clj
@@ -391,9 +391,10 @@
           (if node
             (do
               (swap! active-queries-per-node active-query-inc node-name)
-              (let [ret (handler (assoc request :xtdb-node node))]
-                (swap! active-queries-per-node active-query-dec node-name)
-                ret))
+              (try
+                (handler (assoc request :xtdb-node node))
+                (finally
+                 (swap! active-queries-per-node active-query-dec node-name))))
             {:status 404, :body {:error "Node not found"}}))
         (handler request)))))
 
diff --git a/tests/test_xtdb.py b/tests/test_xtdb.py
index 1b00230..c625be0 100644
--- a/tests/test_xtdb.py
+++ b/tests/test_xtdb.py
@@ -38,3 +38,11 @@ def test_submit_tx(xtdb_node):
 
     assert entity['xt/id'] == 'boris'
     assert entity['last-name'] == 'Petrov'
+
+
+def test_malformed(xtdb_node):
+    edn_headers = {'Content-Type': 'application/edn', 'Accept': 'application/adn'}
+
+    data = '{:tx-ops [[]]}'
+    response = requests.post(f'http://127.0.0.1:3000/_xtdb/{xtdb_node}/submit-tx', headers=edn_headers, timeout=5, data=data)
+    assert response.status_code == 400