diff --git a/containers/jetty-http/pom.xml b/containers/jetty-http/pom.xml
index c99d10602b..0acbdd2f12 100644
--- a/containers/jetty-http/pom.xml
+++ b/containers/jetty-http/pom.xml
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@
 
 -->
 
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
     <parent>
@@ -37,7 +38,6 @@
             <groupId>org.glassfish.hk2.external</groupId>
             <artifactId>jakarta.inject</artifactId>
         </dependency>
-
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.eclipse.jetty</groupId>
             <artifactId>jetty-server</artifactId>
@@ -50,6 +50,11 @@
             <groupId>org.eclipse.jetty</groupId>
             <artifactId>jetty-continuation</artifactId>
         </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents</groupId>
+            <artifactId>httpclient</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 
     <build>
@@ -69,7 +74,6 @@
                 <artifactId>maven-bundle-plugin</artifactId>
                 <inherited>true</inherited>
             </plugin>
-
         </plugins>
 
         <resources>
diff --git a/containers/jetty-http/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/jetty/JettyHttpContainer.java b/containers/jetty-http/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/jetty/JettyHttpContainer.java
index e1a04d73ed..d79db49eb1 100644
--- a/containers/jetty-http/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/jetty/JettyHttpContainer.java
+++ b/containers/jetty-http/src/main/java/org/glassfish/jersey/jetty/JettyHttpContainer.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2013, 2020 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2013, 2021 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  *
  * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
  * terms of the Eclipse Public License v. 2.0, which is available at
@@ -145,9 +145,9 @@ public void handle(final String target, final Request request, final HttpServlet
 
         final Response response = request.getResponse();
         final ResponseWriter responseWriter = new ResponseWriter(request, response, configSetStatusOverSendError);
-        final URI baseUri = getBaseUri(request);
-        final URI requestUri = getRequestUri(request, baseUri);
         try {
+            final URI baseUri = getBaseUri(request);
+            final URI requestUri = getRequestUri(request, baseUri);
             final ContainerRequest requestContext = new ContainerRequest(
                     baseUri,
                     requestUri,
@@ -171,25 +171,35 @@ public void handle(final String target, final Request request, final HttpServlet
             // Mark the request as handled before generating the body of the response
             request.setHandled(true);
             appHandler.handle(requestContext);
+        } catch (URISyntaxException e) {
+            setResponseForInvalidUri(response, e);
         } catch (final Exception ex) {
             throw new RuntimeException(ex);
         }
-
     }
 
-    private URI getRequestUri(final Request request, final URI baseUri) {
-        try {
-            final String serverAddress = getServerAddress(baseUri);
-            String uri = request.getRequestURI();
+    private URI getRequestUri(final Request request, final URI baseUri) throws URISyntaxException {
+        final String serverAddress = getServerAddress(baseUri);
+        String uri = request.getRequestURI();
 
-            final String queryString = request.getQueryString();
-            if (queryString != null) {
-                uri = uri + "?" + ContainerUtils.encodeUnsafeCharacters(queryString);
-            }
+        final String queryString = request.getQueryString();
+        if (queryString != null) {
+            uri = uri + "?" + ContainerUtils.encodeUnsafeCharacters(queryString);
+        }
 
-            return new URI(serverAddress + uri);
-        } catch (URISyntaxException ex) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException(ex);
+        return new URI(serverAddress + uri);
+    }
+
+    private void setResponseForInvalidUri(final HttpServletResponse response, final Throwable throwable) throws IOException {
+        LOGGER.log(Level.FINER, "Error while processing request.", throwable);
+
+        final javax.ws.rs.core.Response.Status badRequest = javax.ws.rs.core.Response.Status.BAD_REQUEST;
+        if (configSetStatusOverSendError) {
+            response.reset();
+            //noinspection deprecation
+            response.setStatus(badRequest.getStatusCode(), badRequest.getReasonPhrase());
+        } else {
+            response.sendError(badRequest.getStatusCode(), badRequest.getReasonPhrase());
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/containers/jetty-http/src/test/java/org/glassfish/jersey/jetty/ExceptionTest.java b/containers/jetty-http/src/test/java/org/glassfish/jersey/jetty/ExceptionTest.java
index e934e6e61a..e9b51726cc 100644
--- a/containers/jetty-http/src/test/java/org/glassfish/jersey/jetty/ExceptionTest.java
+++ b/containers/jetty-http/src/test/java/org/glassfish/jersey/jetty/ExceptionTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2010, 2018 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2010, 2021 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  *
  * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
  * terms of the Eclipse Public License v. 2.0, which is available at
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@
 
 package org.glassfish.jersey.jetty;
 
+import org.apache.http.HttpHost;
+import org.apache.http.client.methods.CloseableHttpResponse;
+import org.apache.http.impl.client.CloseableHttpClient;
+import org.apache.http.impl.client.HttpClientBuilder;
+import org.apache.http.message.BasicHttpRequest;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
 import javax.ws.rs.GET;
@@ -28,6 +33,7 @@
 import javax.ws.rs.core.Response;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.URI;
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 
@@ -44,6 +50,19 @@ public String get(@PathParam("status") int status) {
 
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void test400StatusCodeForIllegalSymbolsInURI() throws IOException {
+        startServer(ExceptionResource.class);
+        URI testUri = getUri().build();
+        String incorrectFragment = "&params[0]=test_status";
+        BasicHttpRequest request = new BasicHttpRequest("GET", testUri + incorrectFragment);
+        CloseableHttpClient client = HttpClientBuilder.create().build();
+
+        CloseableHttpResponse response = client.execute(new HttpHost(testUri.getHost(), testUri.getPort()), request);
+
+        assertEquals(400, response.getStatusLine().getStatusCode());
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void test400StatusCode() throws IOException {
         startServer(ExceptionResource.class);