diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/DefaultSearchContext.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/DefaultSearchContext.java
index 4d1d774ceb817..4bc40610facf2 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/DefaultSearchContext.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/DefaultSearchContext.java
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
 import org.opensearch.common.lucene.search.Queries;
 import org.opensearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
 import org.opensearch.common.util.BigArrays;
+import org.opensearch.common.util.concurrent.OpenSearchRejectedExecutionException;
 import org.opensearch.index.IndexService;
 import org.opensearch.index.IndexSettings;
 import org.opensearch.index.cache.bitset.BitsetFilterCache;
@@ -309,7 +310,7 @@ public void preProcess(boolean rewrite) {
             int sliceLimit = indexService.getIndexSettings().getMaxSlicesPerPit();
             int numSlices = sliceBuilder.getMax();
             if (numSlices > sliceLimit) {
-                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                throw new OpenSearchRejectedExecutionException(
                     "The number of slices ["
                         + numSlices
                         + "] is too large. It must "
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/search/DefaultSearchContextTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/search/DefaultSearchContextTests.java
index 367257aaad5c6..96a4d9ad1d8d9 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/search/DefaultSearchContextTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/search/DefaultSearchContextTests.java
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@
 import org.opensearch.common.util.BigArrays;
 import org.opensearch.common.util.MockBigArrays;
 import org.opensearch.common.util.MockPageCacheRecycler;
+import org.opensearch.common.util.concurrent.OpenSearchRejectedExecutionException;
 import org.opensearch.index.IndexService;
 import org.opensearch.index.IndexSettings;
 import org.opensearch.index.cache.IndexCache;
@@ -434,9 +435,12 @@ protected Engine.Searcher acquireSearcherInternal(String source) {
             when(sliceBuilder.getMax()).thenReturn(numSlicesForPit);
             context5.sliceBuilder(sliceBuilder);
 
-            exception = expectThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> context5.preProcess(false));
+            OpenSearchRejectedExecutionException exception1 = expectThrows(
+                OpenSearchRejectedExecutionException.class,
+                () -> context5.preProcess(false)
+            );
             assertThat(
-                exception.getMessage(),
+                exception1.getMessage(),
                 equalTo(
                     "The number of slices ["
                         + numSlicesForPit