diff --git a/beets/dbcore/query.py b/beets/dbcore/query.py
index 8d9c1929c..3727f6d7f 100644
--- a/beets/dbcore/query.py
+++ b/beets/dbcore/query.py
@@ -24,17 +24,28 @@ from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 
 
 class InvalidQueryError(ValueError):
+    """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):
-        message = "Invalid query '{0}': {1}".format(query, explanation)
+        if isinstance(query, list):
+            query = " ".join(query)
+        message = "'{0}': {1}".format(query, explanation)
         super(InvalidQueryError, self).__init__(message)
 
 
-class InvalidQueryArgumentTypeError(InvalidQueryError, TypeError):
+class InvalidQueryArgumentTypeError(TypeError):
+    """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(InvalidQueryArgumentTypeError, self).__init__(None, message)
+        super(InvalidQueryArgumentTypeError, self).__init__(message)
 
 
 class Query(object):
diff --git a/beets/library.py b/beets/library.py
index a9885918b..a57ed1642 100644
--- a/beets/library.py
+++ b/beets/library.py
@@ -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_query.py b/test/test_query.py
index 077518c36..a32d8d60d 100644
--- a/test/test_query.py
+++ b/test/test_query.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ from test import helper
 
 import beets.library
 from beets import dbcore
-from beets.dbcore import types, InvalidQueryError
+from beets.dbcore import types
 from beets.dbcore.query import NoneQuery, InvalidQueryArgumentTypeError
 from beets.library import Library, Item
 
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ class GetTest(DummyDataTestCase):
             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, (InvalidQueryError, TypeError))
+        self.assertIsInstance(raised.exception, TypeError)
 
 
 class MatchTest(_common.TestCase):