diff --git a/apiserver/controllers/transaction.go b/apiserver/controllers/transaction.go
index 876895fc0..e4b9f2c8b 100644
--- a/apiserver/controllers/transaction.go
+++ b/apiserver/controllers/transaction.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/daglabs/btcd/util"
 	"net/http"
 
 	"github.com/daglabs/btcd/apiserver/apimodels"
@@ -147,6 +148,13 @@ func areTxsInBlock(blockID uint64, txIDs []uint64) (map[uint64]bool, error) {
 
 // GetUTXOsByAddressHandler searches for all UTXOs that belong to a certain address.
 func GetUTXOsByAddressHandler(address string) (interface{}, error) {
+	_, err := util.DecodeAddress(address, config.ActiveConfig().ActiveNetParams.Prefix)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, httpserverutils.NewHandlerErrorWithCustomClientMessage(http.StatusUnprocessableEntity,
+			errors.Wrap(err, "error decoding address"),
+			"The given address is not a well-formatted P2PKH or P2SH address.")
+	}
+
 	db, err := database.DB()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err