diff --git a/beets/dbcore/__init__.py b/beets/dbcore/__init__.py
index 100f546b5..093591882 100644
--- a/beets/dbcore/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/dbcore/__init__.py
@@ -23,5 +23,6 @@ from .types import Type
 from .queryparse import query_from_strings
 from .queryparse import sort_from_strings
 from .queryparse import parse_sorted_query
+from .query import InvalidQueryError
 
 # flake8: noqa
diff --git a/beets/dbcore/query.py b/beets/dbcore/query.py
index 2f90e0398..cd891148e 100644
--- a/beets/dbcore/query.py
+++ b/beets/dbcore/query.py
@@ -23,12 +23,35 @@ from beets import util
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 
 
-class InvalidQueryError(ValueError):
+class ParsingError(ValueError):
+    """Abstract class for any unparseable user-requested album/query
+    specification.
+    """
+
+
+class InvalidQueryError(ParsingError):
+    """Represent any kind of invalid query.
+
+    The query should be a unicode string or a list, which will be space-joined.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, query, explanation):
+        if isinstance(query, list):
+            query = " ".join(query)
+        message = "'{0}': {1}".format(query, explanation)
+        super(InvalidQueryError, self).__init__(message)
+
+
+class InvalidQueryArgumentTypeError(ParsingError):
+    """Represent a query argument that could not be converted as expected.
+
+    It exists to be caught in upper stack levels so a meaningful (i.e. with the
+    query) InvalidQueryError can be raised.
+    """
     def __init__(self, what, expected, detail=None):
         message = "'{0}' is not {1}".format(what, expected)
         if detail:
             message = "{0}: {1}".format(message, detail)
-        super(InvalidQueryError, self).__init__(message)
+        super(InvalidQueryArgumentTypeError, self).__init__(message)
 
 
 class Query(object):
@@ -160,8 +183,9 @@ class RegexpQuery(StringFieldQuery):
             self.pattern = re.compile(self.pattern)
         except re.error as exc:
             # Invalid regular expression.
-            raise InvalidQueryError(pattern, "a regular expression",
-                                    format(exc))
+            raise InvalidQueryArgumentTypeError(pattern,
+                                                "a regular expression",
+                                                format(exc))
 
     @classmethod
     def string_match(cls, pattern, value):
@@ -228,7 +252,7 @@ class NumericQuery(FieldQuery):
             try:
                 return float(s)
             except ValueError:
-                raise InvalidQueryError(s, "an int or a float")
+                raise InvalidQueryArgumentTypeError(s, "an int or a float")
 
     def __init__(self, field, pattern, fast=True):
         super(NumericQuery, self).__init__(field, pattern, fast)
diff --git a/beets/library.py b/beets/library.py
index 40051c354..a57ed1642 100644
--- a/beets/library.py
+++ b/beets/library.py
@@ -1085,7 +1085,7 @@ def parse_query_string(s, model_cls):
     try:
         parts = [p.decode('utf8') for p in shlex.split(s)]
     except ValueError as exc:
-        raise ValueError("Cannot parse {0!r} (error was: {1})".format(s, exc))
+        raise dbcore.InvalidQueryError(s, exc)
     return parse_query_parts(parts, model_cls)
 
 
@@ -1155,11 +1155,14 @@ class Library(dbcore.Database):
         in the query string the `sort` argument is ignored.
         """
         # Parse the query, if necessary.
-        parsed_sort = None
-        if isinstance(query, basestring):
-            query, parsed_sort = parse_query_string(query, model_cls)
-        elif isinstance(query, (list, tuple)):
-            query, parsed_sort = parse_query_parts(query, model_cls)
+        try:
+            parsed_sort = None
+            if isinstance(query, basestring):
+                query, parsed_sort = parse_query_string(query, model_cls)
+            elif isinstance(query, (list, tuple)):
+                query, parsed_sort = parse_query_parts(query, model_cls)
+        except dbcore.query.InvalidQueryArgumentTypeError as exc:
+            raise dbcore.InvalidQueryError(query, exc)
 
         # Any non-null sort specified by the parsed query overrides the
         # provided sort.
diff --git a/test/test_library.py b/test/test_library.py
index 3848f2b7c..0bac0f173 100644
--- a/test/test_library.py
+++ b/test/test_library.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ from test._common import unittest
 from test._common import item
 import beets.library
 import beets.mediafile
+import beets.dbcore.query
 from beets import util
 from beets import plugins
 from beets import config
@@ -1171,6 +1172,14 @@ class ItemReadTest(unittest.TestCase):
             item.read('/thisfiledoesnotexist')
 
 
+class ParseQueryTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_parse_invalid_query_string(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(beets.dbcore.InvalidQueryError) as raised:
+            beets.library.parse_query_string('foo"', None)
+        self.assertIsInstance(raised.exception,
+                              beets.dbcore.query.ParsingError)
+
+
 def suite():
     return unittest.TestLoader().loadTestsFromName(__name__)
 
diff --git a/test/test_query.py b/test/test_query.py
index 55450d0ad..a9b1058bd 100644
--- a/test/test_query.py
+++ b/test/test_query.py
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ from test import helper
 import beets.library
 from beets import dbcore
 from beets.dbcore import types
-from beets.dbcore.query import NoneQuery, InvalidQueryError
+from beets.dbcore.query import (NoneQuery, ParsingError,
+                                InvalidQueryArgumentTypeError)
 from beets.library import Library, Item
 
 
@@ -282,14 +283,15 @@ class GetTest(DummyDataTestCase):
         self.assertFalse(results)
 
     def test_invalid_query(self):
-        with self.assertRaises(InvalidQueryError) as raised:
+        with self.assertRaises(InvalidQueryArgumentTypeError) as raised:
             dbcore.query.NumericQuery('year', '199a')
         self.assertIn('not an int', unicode(raised.exception))
 
-        with self.assertRaises(InvalidQueryError) as raised:
+        with self.assertRaises(InvalidQueryArgumentTypeError) as raised:
             dbcore.query.RegexpQuery('year', '199(')
         self.assertIn('not a regular expression', unicode(raised.exception))
         self.assertIn('unbalanced parenthesis', unicode(raised.exception))
+        self.assertIsInstance(raised.exception, ParsingError)
 
 
 class MatchTest(_common.TestCase):