diff --git a/packages/store/src/-private/cache-handler/handler.ts b/packages/store/src/-private/cache-handler/handler.ts
index 1170a673cc9..fe5ac0c14e2 100644
--- a/packages/store/src/-private/cache-handler/handler.ts
+++ b/packages/store/src/-private/cache-handler/handler.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import type {
 import type { ApiError } from '@warp-drive/core-types/spec/error';
 import type { ResourceIdentifierObject } from '@warp-drive/core-types/spec/json-api-raw';
 
-import type { OpaqueRecordInstance } from '../../-types/q/record-instance';
 import { Document } from '../document';
 import type { Store } from '../store-service';
 import {
@@ -246,11 +245,11 @@ function maybeUpdateErrorUiObjects<T>(
 ): ResourceErrorDocument {
   const { identifier } = options;
 
-  assert(`Expected an error document`, isErrorDocument(document));
-
-  if (!identifier && !options.shouldHydrate) {
+  // TODO investigate why ResourceErrorDocument is insufficient for expressing all error types
+  if (!isErrorDocument(document) || (!identifier && !options.shouldHydrate)) {
     return document;
   }
+
   let doc: Document<T> | undefined;
   if (identifier) {
     doc = store._documentCache.get(identifier) as Document<T> | undefined;
diff --git a/packages/store/src/-private/cache-handler/utils.ts b/packages/store/src/-private/cache-handler/utils.ts
index f12fafafe3b..f5587783909 100644
--- a/packages/store/src/-private/cache-handler/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/store/src/-private/cache-handler/utils.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import type { StableDocumentIdentifier } from '@warp-drive/core-types/identifier';
 import type {
   ImmutableCreateRequestOptions,
   ImmutableDeleteRequestOptions,
@@ -5,10 +6,10 @@ import type {
   ImmutableUpdateRequestOptions,
   StructuredDataDocument,
 } from '@warp-drive/core-types/request';
-import type { Store } from '../store-service';
-import type { StableDocumentIdentifier } from '@warp-drive/core-types/identifier';
-import type { ApiError } from '@warp-drive/core-types/spec/error';
 import type { ResourceDataDocument, ResourceErrorDocument } from '@warp-drive/core-types/spec/document';
+import type { ApiError } from '@warp-drive/core-types/spec/error';
+
+import type { Store } from '../store-service';
 
 export const MUTATION_OPS = new Set(['createRecord', 'updateRecord', 'deleteRecord']);
 
diff --git a/packages/store/src/-private/store-service.ts b/packages/store/src/-private/store-service.ts
index 4d1a1031c32..05fdba7fd97 100644
--- a/packages/store/src/-private/store-service.ts
+++ b/packages/store/src/-private/store-service.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import type { OpaqueRecordInstance } from '../-types/q/record-instance';
 import type { SchemaService } from '../-types/q/schema-service';
 import type { FindAllOptions, FindRecordOptions, LegacyResourceQuery, QueryOptions } from '../-types/q/store';
 import type { StoreRequestInput } from './cache-handler/handler';
+import type { CachePolicy } from './cache-handler/types';
 import { IdentifierCache } from './caches/identifier-cache';
 import {
   InstanceCache,
@@ -60,7 +61,6 @@ import type { Collection, IdentifierArray } from './record-arrays/identifier-arr
 import { coerceId, ensureStringId } from './utils/coerce-id';
 import { constructResource } from './utils/construct-resource';
 import { normalizeModelName } from './utils/normalize-model-name';
-import type { CachePolicy } from './cache-handler/types';
 
 export { storeFor };