diff --git a/extensions-core/multi-stage-query/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/msq/exec/MSQFaultsTest.java b/extensions-core/multi-stage-query/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/msq/exec/MSQFaultsTest.java
index b18e14b04f20..2918391c0be0 100644
--- a/extensions-core/multi-stage-query/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/msq/exec/MSQFaultsTest.java
+++ b/extensions-core/multi-stage-query/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/msq/exec/MSQFaultsTest.java
@@ -511,7 +511,7 @@ public void testUnionAllWithDifferentColumnNames()
             + "PARTITIONED BY ALL TIME")
         .setExpectedValidationErrorMatcher(
             new DruidExceptionMatcher(
-                DruidException.Persona.ADMIN,
+                DruidException.Persona.USER,
                 DruidException.Category.INVALID_INPUT,
                 "general"
             ).expectMessageContains(
@@ -533,7 +533,7 @@ public void testTopLevelUnionAllWithJoins()
         )
         .setExpectedValidationErrorMatcher(
             new DruidExceptionMatcher(
-                DruidException.Persona.ADMIN,
+                DruidException.Persona.USER,
                 DruidException.Category.INVALID_INPUT,
                 "general"
             ).expectMessageContains(
diff --git a/sql/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/planner/QueryHandler.java b/sql/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/planner/QueryHandler.java
index b19e83e040e0..2fca51e8dc03 100644
--- a/sql/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/planner/QueryHandler.java
+++ b/sql/src/main/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/planner/QueryHandler.java
@@ -678,9 +678,10 @@ private DruidException buildSQLPlanningError(RelOptPlanner.CannotPlanException e
                           .build(exception, "Unhandled Query Planning Failure, see broker logs for details");
     } else {
       // Planning errors are more like hints: it isn't guaranteed that the planning error is actually what went wrong.
-      // For this reason, we consider these as targetting a more expert persona, i.e. the admin instead of the actual
-      // user.
-      throw DruidException.forPersona(DruidException.Persona.ADMIN)
+      // Even though the errors could be targetted to a more expert persona the errors aren't leaking any privileged
+      // information about the cluster that an admin might care about. The errors that are user resolvable are worth
+      // the potential confusion that a user might face with one that requires an expert persona.
+      throw DruidException.forPersona(DruidException.Persona.USER)
                           .ofCategory(DruidException.Category.INVALID_INPUT)
                           .build(
                               exception,
diff --git a/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/BaseCalciteQueryTest.java b/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/BaseCalciteQueryTest.java
index 94bc3b5c2eb9..9c74d4bbffc8 100644
--- a/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/BaseCalciteQueryTest.java
+++ b/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/calcite/BaseCalciteQueryTest.java
@@ -690,7 +690,7 @@ private DruidExceptionMatcher buildUnplannableExceptionMatcher()
     if (testBuilder().isDecoupledMode()) {
       return new DruidExceptionMatcher(Persona.USER, Category.INVALID_INPUT, "invalidInput");
     } else {
-      return new DruidExceptionMatcher(Persona.ADMIN, Category.INVALID_INPUT, "general");
+      return new DruidExceptionMatcher(Persona.USER, Category.INVALID_INPUT, "general");
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/http/SqlResourceTest.java b/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/http/SqlResourceTest.java
index 665d5873b461..b906fe731781 100644
--- a/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/http/SqlResourceTest.java
+++ b/sql/src/test/java/org/apache/druid/sql/http/SqlResourceTest.java
@@ -1386,7 +1386,7 @@ public void testCannotConvert() throws Exception
     validateErrorResponse(
         exception,
         "general",
-        DruidException.Persona.ADMIN,
+        DruidException.Persona.USER,
         DruidException.Category.INVALID_INPUT,
         "Query could not be planned. A possible reason is "
         + "[SQL query requires ordering a table by non-time column [[dim1]], which is not supported.]"