diff --git a/app/Exceptions/Handler.php b/app/Exceptions/Handler.php
index fae18efab..9c979e00a 100644
--- a/app/Exceptions/Handler.php
+++ b/app/Exceptions/Handler.php
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class Handler extends ExceptionHandler
                     'message' => $exception->getMessage(),
                     'errors' => $exception->validator->getMessageBag(),
                 ],
-                method_exists($exception, 'getStatusCode') ? $exception->getStatusCode() : 500
+                method_exists($exception, 'getStatusCode') ? $exception->getStatusCode() : $exception->status
             );
         } elseif ($request->wantsJson()) {
             return response()->json(
diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/Api/ApiV1Controller.php b/app/Http/Controllers/Api/ApiV1Controller.php
index f9878281a..e85afec64 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/Api/ApiV1Controller.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/Api/ApiV1Controller.php
@@ -2607,8 +2607,8 @@ class ApiV1Controller extends Controller
 
         $this->validate($request, [
             'page' => 'sometimes|integer|max:40',
-            'min_id' => 'sometimes|integer|min:0|max:'.PHP_INT_MAX,
-            'max_id' => 'sometimes|integer|min:0|max:'.PHP_INT_MAX,
+            'min_id' => 'nullable|integer|min:0|max:'.PHP_INT_MAX,
+            'max_id' => 'nullable|integer|min:0|max:'.PHP_INT_MAX,
             'limit' => 'sometimes|integer|min:1',
             'include_reblogs' => 'sometimes',
         ]);
diff --git a/tests/Feature/HomeTimelineTest.php b/tests/Feature/HomeTimelineTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..34ac3a015
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Feature/HomeTimelineTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Tests\Feature;
+
+use App\User;
+use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;
+use Laravel\Passport\Passport;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Test;
+use Tests\TestCase;
+
+/**
+ * Regression tests for two related bugs that together caused HTTP 500 on the
+ * home timeline endpoint for Mastodon-compatible clients (including the
+ * Pixelfed Android app).
+ *
+ * Bug 1 — Issue #6609: Handler.php returns HTTP 500 for ValidationException
+ * Bug 2 — Issue #6610: timelineHome rejects empty max_id= / min_id= parameters
+ */
+class HomeTimelineTest extends TestCase
+{
+    use RefreshDatabase;
+
+    private function authenticatedUser(): User
+    {
+        $user = User::factory()->create();
+        Passport::actingAs($user, ['read']);
+
+        return $user;
+    }
+
+    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    // Bug #6609 — Exception handler returns 500 instead of 422
+    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    /**
+     * ValidationException must produce HTTP 422, not 500.
+     *
+     * Root cause: Handler.php called method_exists($exception, 'getStatusCode')
+     * which is false for Illuminate\Validation\ValidationException (the class
+     * exposes $status = 422 but has no getStatusCode() method), so the fallback
+     * of 500 was used for every JSON API validation failure.
+     */
+    #[Test]
+    public function json_api_validation_failure_returns_422_not_500(): void
+    {
+        $this->authenticatedUser();
+
+        // max_id=not-a-number is non-null and not an integer.
+        // 'nullable|integer' fails on it → ValidationException → must be 422.
+        $response = $this->getJson('/api/v1/timelines/home?max_id=not-a-number');
+
+        $response->assertStatus(422);
+        $response->assertJsonStructure(['message', 'errors']);
+        $response->assertJsonPath('errors.max_id.0', fn ($msg) => str_contains($msg, 'integer'));
+    }
+
+    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    // Bug #6610 — timelineHome rejects empty max_id= / min_id=
+    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    /**
+     * An empty max_id= query parameter must not cause a server error.
+     *
+     * Root cause: timelineHome used 'sometimes|integer' for max_id/min_id while
+     * every other timeline method in ApiV1Controller used 'nullable|integer'.
+     * The ConvertEmptyStringsToNull middleware converts max_id= to null before
+     * validation. With 'sometimes', the key is still "present" (as null) and the
+     * integer rule runs on null → ValidationException → triggered bug #6609 → 500.
+     * With 'nullable', a null value skips the integer check → no exception.
+     *
+     * The Pixelfed Android app (okhttp/4.12.0) sends max_id= on every first
+     * home timeline load, making the app unusable without this fix.
+     */
+    #[Test]
+    public function timeline_home_accepts_empty_max_id_parameter(): void
+    {
+        $this->authenticatedUser();
+
+        // Mirrors the exact request sent by the Pixelfed Android app on first load.
+        $response = $this->getJson('/api/v1/timelines/home?limit=20&max_id=&_pe=1&limit=20');
+
+        $response->assertSuccessful();
+    }
+
+    #[Test]
+    public function timeline_home_accepts_empty_min_id_parameter(): void
+    {
+        $this->authenticatedUser();
+
+        $response = $this->getJson('/api/v1/timelines/home?limit=20&min_id=');
+
+        $response->assertSuccessful();
+    }
+
+    #[Test]
+    public function timeline_home_still_validates_non_null_non_integer_max_id(): void
+    {
+        // Ensure the nullable change does not make the endpoint accept garbage input.
+        // A non-empty, non-integer max_id must still fail validation (422, not 200).
+        $this->authenticatedUser();
+
+        $response = $this->getJson('/api/v1/timelines/home?max_id=abc');
+
+        $response->assertStatus(422);
+    }
+}