diff --git a/lib/topic_creator.rb b/lib/topic_creator.rb
index 396dabb4f3c..66c3d09520e 100644
--- a/lib/topic_creator.rb
+++ b/lib/topic_creator.rb
@@ -121,7 +121,9 @@ class TopicCreator
     category = find_category
     @guardian.ensure_can_create!(Topic, category) unless (@opts[:skip_validations] || @opts[:archetype] == Archetype.private_message)
 
-    raise Discourse::NotFound if @opts[:category].present? && category.nil?
+    if @opts[:category].present? && category.nil?
+      raise Discourse::InvalidParameters.new(:category)
+    end
 
     topic_params[:category_id] = category.id if category.present?
 
diff --git a/spec/requests/posts_controller_spec.rb b/spec/requests/posts_controller_spec.rb
index 73c863b63c3..dea1680497e 100644
--- a/spec/requests/posts_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/posts_controller_spec.rb
@@ -787,21 +787,12 @@ describe PostsController do
           raw: 'this is test body',
           category: 'invalid'
         }
-        expect(response.status).to eq(404)
-      end
 
-      it 'can create topics with an empty category param' do
-        user = Fabricate(:admin)
-        master_key = ApiKey.create_master_key.key
+        expect(response.status).to eq(400)
 
-        post "/posts.json", params: {
-          api_username: user.username,
-          api_key: master_key,
-          title: 'title for a topic without a category',
-          raw: 'body for my topic without a category',
-          category: ''
-        }
-        expect(response.status).to eq(200)
+        expect(JSON.parse(response.body)["errors"]).to include(
+          I18n.t("invalid_params", message: "category")
+        )
       end
     end