diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/action/models/DeleteModelTransportAction.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/action/models/DeleteModelTransportAction.java
index f38a231218..6e193d6909 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/action/models/DeleteModelTransportAction.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/opensearch/ml/action/models/DeleteModelTransportAction.java
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@
 import org.opensearch.index.reindex.DeleteByQueryAction;
 import org.opensearch.index.reindex.DeleteByQueryRequest;
 import org.opensearch.ml.common.MLModel;
-import org.opensearch.ml.common.exception.MLResourceNotFoundException;
 import org.opensearch.ml.common.exception.MLValidationException;
 import org.opensearch.ml.common.model.MLModelState;
 import org.opensearch.ml.common.transport.model.MLModelDeleteAction;
@@ -159,10 +158,9 @@ protected void doExecute(Task task, ActionRequest request, ActionListener<Delete
                         actionListener.onFailure(e);
                     }
                 } else {
-                    actionListener
-                        .onFailure(new IllegalArgumentException("Failed to find model to delete with the provided model id: " + modelId));
+                    actionListener.onFailure(new OpenSearchStatusException("Failed to find model", RestStatus.NOT_FOUND));
                 }
-            }, e -> { actionListener.onFailure(new MLResourceNotFoundException("Fail to find model")); }));
+            }, e -> { actionListener.onFailure(e); }));
         } catch (Exception e) {
             log.error("Failed to delete ML model " + modelId, e);
             actionListener.onFailure(e);
diff --git a/plugin/src/test/java/org/opensearch/ml/action/models/DeleteModelTransportActionTests.java b/plugin/src/test/java/org/opensearch/ml/action/models/DeleteModelTransportActionTests.java
index 73bd333985..d08ed7673e 100644
--- a/plugin/src/test/java/org/opensearch/ml/action/models/DeleteModelTransportActionTests.java
+++ b/plugin/src/test/java/org/opensearch/ml/action/models/DeleteModelTransportActionTests.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import org.mockito.ArgumentCaptor;
 import org.mockito.Mock;
 import org.mockito.MockitoAnnotations;
+import org.opensearch.OpenSearchStatusException;
 import org.opensearch.ResourceNotFoundException;
 import org.opensearch.action.ActionListener;
 import org.opensearch.action.bulk.BulkItemResponse;
@@ -359,7 +360,7 @@ public void testDeleteModel_CheckModelState() throws IOException {
     public void testDeleteModel_ModelNotFoundException() throws IOException {
         doAnswer(invocation -> {
             ActionListener<GetResponse> actionListener = invocation.getArgument(1);
-            actionListener.onFailure(new Exception());
+            actionListener.onFailure(new Exception("Fail to find model"));
             return null;
         }).when(client).get(any(), any());
 
@@ -423,9 +424,9 @@ public void testModelNotFound() throws IOException {
             return null;
         }).when(client).get(any(), any());
         deleteModelTransportAction.doExecute(null, mlModelDeleteRequest, actionListener);
-        ArgumentCaptor<IllegalArgumentException> argumentCaptor = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(IllegalArgumentException.class);
+        ArgumentCaptor<OpenSearchStatusException> argumentCaptor = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(OpenSearchStatusException.class);
         verify(actionListener).onFailure(argumentCaptor.capture());
-        assertEquals("Failed to find model to delete with the provided model id: test_id", argumentCaptor.getValue().getMessage());
+        assertEquals("Failed to find model", argumentCaptor.getValue().getMessage());
     }
 
     public void testDeleteModelChunks_Success() {