diff --git a/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/model/command/clause/sort/FindAndRerankSortClauseDeserializer.java b/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/model/command/clause/sort/FindAndRerankSortClauseDeserializer.java
index a3294cf9a0..cf36fc2246 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/model/command/clause/sort/FindAndRerankSortClauseDeserializer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/model/command/clause/sort/FindAndRerankSortClauseDeserializer.java
@@ -22,8 +22,7 @@
 /**
  * {@link StdDeserializer} for the {@link FindAndRerankSort}.
  *
- * <p>Note: This only checks the shape of the sort clause, the other validation is handled when
- * resolving the command to an operation.
+ * <p>Note: Validation of field combinations is handled when resolving the command to an operation.
  */
 public class FindAndRerankSortClauseDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<FindAndRerankSort> {
 
@@ -199,8 +198,23 @@ private static FindAndRerankSort deserializeHybridObject(
                   ArrayNode.class,
                   ObjectNode.class);
             }
+            String binaryPath = "sort.$hybrid.$vector.$binary";
+            if (!ejson.value().isTextual() && !ejson.value().isBinary()) {
+              throw new JsonMappingException(
+                  jsonParser, binaryPath + " must be a Base64-encoded string");
+            }
+            float[] binaryVector;
+            try {
+              binaryVector = ejson.getVectorValueForBinary();
+            } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+              throw new JsonMappingException(jsonParser, binaryPath + ": " + e.getMessage());
+            }
+            if (binaryVector.length == 0) {
+              throw new JsonMappingException(
+                  jsonParser, binaryPath + " must encode a non-empty vector");
+            }
             commandFeatures.addFeature(CommandFeature.VECTOR);
-            yield ejson.getVectorValueForBinary();
+            yield binaryVector;
           }
           case JsonNode node ->
               throw JsonFieldMatcher.errorForWrongType(
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/model/command/clause/sort/FindAndRerankSortClauseDeserializerTest.java b/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/model/command/clause/sort/FindAndRerankSortClauseDeserializerTest.java
index e3a66280f2..9ea5ff0d6e 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/model/command/clause/sort/FindAndRerankSortClauseDeserializerTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/model/command/clause/sort/FindAndRerankSortClauseDeserializerTest.java
@@ -137,8 +137,6 @@ public void validSorts(String jsonString, FindAndRerankSort expected) throws Exc
 
   private static Stream<Arguments> validSortsTestCases() {
 
-    float[] emptyVector = new float[] {};
-    String emptyVectorBase64 = encodeAsMimeBase64(floatsToBytes(emptyVector));
     float[] vector = new float[] {1.1f, 2.2f, 3.3f};
     String vectorBase64 = encodeAsMimeBase64(floatsToBytes(vector));
 
@@ -318,18 +316,6 @@ private static Stream<Arguments> validSortsTestCases() {
                 "lexical",
                 new float[] {0.1f, 0.2f, 0.3f},
                 CommandFeatures.of(HYBRID, LEXICAL, VECTORIZE, VECTOR))),
-        Arguments.of(
-                """
-            { "$hybrid" : { "$vectorize" : "vectorize", "$lexical" : "lexical", "$vector" : {"$binary": "%s"}} }
-            """
-                .formatted(emptyVectorBase64),
-            new FindAndRerankSort(
-                RerankLegMode.MULTI_LEG,
-                null,
-                "vectorize",
-                "lexical",
-                emptyVector,
-                CommandFeatures.of(HYBRID, LEXICAL, VECTORIZE, VECTOR))),
         Arguments.of(
                 """
             { "$hybrid" : { "$vectorize" : "vectorize", "$lexical" : "lexical", "$vector" : {"$binary": "%s"}} }
@@ -344,6 +330,40 @@ private static Stream<Arguments> validSortsTestCases() {
                 CommandFeatures.of(HYBRID, LEXICAL, VECTORIZE, VECTOR))));
   }
 
+  @ParameterizedTest
+  @MethodSource("invalidBinaryVectorsTestCases")
+  public void invalidBinaryVectors(String binaryValue, String message) throws Exception {
+    ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
+    String sort =
+            """
+        {"$hybrid": {"$vector": {"$binary": %s}}}
+        """
+            .formatted(binaryValue);
+    when(deserializationContext.readTree(jsonParser)).thenReturn(mapper.readTree(sort));
+
+    var error =
+        assertThrows(
+            JsonMappingException.class,
+            () -> deserializer.deserialize(jsonParser, deserializationContext));
+
+    assertThat(error)
+        .hasMessageContaining("sort.$hybrid.$vector.$binary")
+        .hasMessageContaining(message);
+  }
+
+  private static Stream<Arguments> invalidBinaryVectorsTestCases() {
+    return Stream.of(
+        Arguments.of("\"\"", "non-empty vector"),
+        Arguments.of("\" \"", "non-empty vector"),
+        Arguments.of("\"not base64!\"", "Base64"),
+        Arguments.of("\"AAA=\"", "multiple of 4 bytes"),
+        Arguments.of("123", "Base64-encoded string"),
+        Arguments.of("true", "Base64-encoded string"),
+        Arguments.of("null", "Base64-encoded string"),
+        Arguments.of("[]", "Base64-encoded string"),
+        Arguments.of("{}", "Base64-encoded string"));
+  }
+
   @ParameterizedTest
   @MethodSource("invalidSortsTestCases")
   public void invalidSorts(String jsonString, String message) throws Exception {
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/v1/FindAndRerankBinaryVectorTest.java b/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/v1/FindAndRerankBinaryVectorTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4be29e5518
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/io/stargate/sgv2/jsonapi/api/v1/FindAndRerankBinaryVectorTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+package io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.api.v1;
+
+import static io.restassured.RestAssured.given;
+import static io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.api.v1.ResponseAssertions.responseIsError;
+import static io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.util.Base64Util.encodeAsMimeBase64;
+import static io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.util.CqlVectorUtil.floatsToBytes;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import io.quarkus.test.junit.QuarkusTest;
+import io.quarkus.test.junit.TestProfile;
+import io.restassured.http.ContentType;
+import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.api.model.command.impl.FindAndRerankCommand;
+import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.config.constants.HttpConstants;
+import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.exception.RequestException;
+import io.stargate.sgv2.jsonapi.testresource.NoGlobalResourcesTestProfile;
+import jakarta.inject.Inject;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.ValueSource;
+
+/** Tests request parsing and HTTP error mapping without a database or reranking provider. */
+@QuarkusTest
+@TestProfile(NoGlobalResourcesTestProfile.Impl.class)
+class FindAndRerankBinaryVectorTest {
+
+  @Inject ObjectMapper objectMapper;
+
+  @ParameterizedTest
+  @ValueSource(
+      strings = {"\"\"", "\" \"", "\"not base64!\"", "\"AAA=\"", "123", "true", "null", "[]", "{}"})
+  void invalidBinaryVectorReturnsRequestError(String binaryValue) {
+    // Parsing must reject the request before looking up the collection or calling a provider.
+    given()
+        .header(HttpConstants.AUTHENTICATION_TOKEN_HEADER_NAME, "test-token")
+        .contentType(ContentType.JSON)
+        .body(commandWithBinaryVector(binaryValue))
+        .when()
+        .post(CollectionResource.BASE_PATH, "test_keyspace", "test_collection")
+        .then()
+        .statusCode(200)
+        .body("$", responseIsError())
+        .body("errors.size()", is(1))
+        .body("errors[0].family", is("REQUEST"))
+        .body("errors[0].errorCode", is(RequestException.Code.REQUEST_STRUCTURE_MISMATCH.name()))
+        .body("errors[0].message", containsString("sort.$hybrid.$vector.$binary"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void validBinaryVectorIsDecoded() throws Exception {
+    float[] vector = new float[] {1.1f, 2.2f, 3.3f};
+    String binaryValue = objectMapper.writeValueAsString(encodeAsMimeBase64(floatsToBytes(vector)));
+
+    FindAndRerankCommand command =
+        objectMapper.readValue(commandWithBinaryVector(binaryValue), FindAndRerankCommand.class);
+
+    assertThat(command.sortClause().vectorSort()).containsExactly(vector);
+  }
+
+  private static String commandWithBinaryVector(String binaryValue) {
+    return
+        """
+        {"findAndRerank": {
+          "sort": {"$hybrid": {"$vector": {"$binary": %s}}},
+          "options": {"rerankQuery": "I like cheese!", "rerankOn": "content", "limit": 10}
+        }}
+        """
+        .formatted(binaryValue);
+  }
+}