diff --git a/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/json/codec/BaseEventEncoder.java b/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/json/codec/BaseEventEncoder.java
index 778301a27..76ae9258b 100644
--- a/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/json/codec/BaseEventEncoder.java
+++ b/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/json/codec/BaseEventEncoder.java
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package nostr.event.json.codec;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
 import lombok.Data;
-import lombok.SneakyThrows;
 import nostr.base.Encoder;
 import nostr.event.BaseEvent;
 
@@ -16,8 +16,11 @@ public BaseEventEncoder(T event) {
 
     @Override
 //    TODO: refactor all methods calling this to properly handle invalid json exception
-    @SneakyThrows
     public String encode() {
-        return ENCODER_MAPPER_BLACKBIRD.writeValueAsString(event);
+        try {
+            return ENCODER_MAPPER_BLACKBIRD.writeValueAsString(event);
+        } catch (JsonProcessingException e) {
+            throw new EventEncodingException("Failed to encode event to JSON", e);
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/json/codec/EventEncodingException.java b/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/json/codec/EventEncodingException.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..493a344ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/json/codec/EventEncodingException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+package nostr.event.json.codec;
+
+import lombok.experimental.StandardException;
+
+@StandardException
+public class EventEncodingException extends RuntimeException {
+}
diff --git a/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/message/CanonicalAuthenticationMessage.java b/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/message/CanonicalAuthenticationMessage.java
index aa1e5da09..fc4cace08 100644
--- a/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/message/CanonicalAuthenticationMessage.java
+++ b/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/message/CanonicalAuthenticationMessage.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import nostr.event.impl.CanonicalAuthenticationEvent;
 import nostr.event.impl.GenericEvent;
 import nostr.event.json.codec.BaseEventEncoder;
+import nostr.event.json.codec.EventEncodingException;
 import nostr.event.tag.GenericTag;
 
 import java.util.List;
@@ -39,11 +40,15 @@ public CanonicalAuthenticationMessage(CanonicalAuthenticationEvent event) {
 
     @Override
     public String encode() throws JsonProcessingException {
-        return ENCODER_MAPPER_BLACKBIRD.writeValueAsString(
-                JsonNodeFactory.instance.arrayNode()
-                        .add(getCommand())
-                        .add(ENCODER_MAPPER_BLACKBIRD.readTree(
-                                new BaseEventEncoder<>(getEvent()).encode())));
+        try {
+            return ENCODER_MAPPER_BLACKBIRD.writeValueAsString(
+                    JsonNodeFactory.instance.arrayNode()
+                            .add(getCommand())
+                            .add(ENCODER_MAPPER_BLACKBIRD.readTree(
+                                    new BaseEventEncoder<>(getEvent()).encode())));
+        } catch (EventEncodingException e) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to encode canonical authentication event", e);
+        }
     }
 
     @SneakyThrows
diff --git a/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/message/EventMessage.java b/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/message/EventMessage.java
index 0c3e3bceb..75af5ac4f 100644
--- a/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/message/EventMessage.java
+++ b/nostr-java-event/src/main/java/nostr/event/message/EventMessage.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import nostr.event.BaseMessage;
 import nostr.event.impl.GenericEvent;
 import nostr.event.json.codec.BaseEventEncoder;
+import nostr.event.json.codec.EventEncodingException;
 
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Objects;
@@ -52,8 +53,12 @@ public String encode() throws JsonProcessingException {
         var arrayNode = JsonNodeFactory.instance.arrayNode().add(getCommand());
         Optional.ofNullable(getSubscriptionId())
                 .ifPresent(arrayNode::add);
-        arrayNode.add(ENCODER_MAPPER_BLACKBIRD.readTree(
-                new BaseEventEncoder<>((BaseEvent) getEvent()).encode()));
+        try {
+            arrayNode.add(ENCODER_MAPPER_BLACKBIRD.readTree(
+                    new BaseEventEncoder<>((BaseEvent) getEvent()).encode()));
+        } catch (EventEncodingException e) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to encode event", e);
+        }
         return ENCODER_MAPPER_BLACKBIRD.writeValueAsString(arrayNode);
     }
 
diff --git a/nostr-java-event/src/test/java/nostr/event/json/codec/BaseEventEncoderTest.java b/nostr-java-event/src/test/java/nostr/event/json/codec/BaseEventEncoderTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6a8ef3833
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nostr-java-event/src/test/java/nostr/event/json/codec/BaseEventEncoderTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+package nostr.event.json.codec;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonGenerator;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonSerializer;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializerProvider;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.annotation.JsonSerialize;
+import nostr.event.BaseEvent;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
+
+class BaseEventEncoderTest {
+
+    static class FailingSerializer extends JsonSerializer<Object> {
+        @Override
+        public void serialize(Object value, JsonGenerator gen, SerializerProvider serializers) throws IOException {
+            throw new IOException("Serialization failure");
+        }
+    }
+
+    static class FailingEvent extends BaseEvent {
+        @JsonSerialize(using = FailingSerializer.class)
+        public String getAttr() {
+            return "boom";
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public String getId() {
+            return "";
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public String toBech32() {
+            return "";
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    // Ensures encode throws EventEncodingException when serialization fails
+    void encodeThrowsEventEncodingException() {
+        var encoder = new BaseEventEncoder<>(new FailingEvent());
+        assertThrows(EventEncodingException.class, encoder::encode);
+    }
+}