diff --git a/userspace/engine/rule_loader.cpp b/userspace/engine/rule_loader.cpp
index 66a5acec..9ceb39a3 100644
--- a/userspace/engine/rule_loader.cpp
+++ b/userspace/engine/rule_loader.cpp
@@ -64,6 +64,11 @@ rule_loader::context::context(const YAML::Node &item,
 	init(parent.name(), position(item.Mark()), item_type, item_name, parent);
 }
 
+rule_loader::context::context(const YAML::Mark &mark, const context& parent)
+{
+	init(parent.name(), position(mark), item_type::VALUE_FOR, "", parent);
+}
+
 rule_loader::context::context(const libsinsp::filter::ast::pos_info& pos,
 			      const std::string& condition,
 			      const context& parent)
diff --git a/userspace/engine/rule_loader.h b/userspace/engine/rule_loader.h
index 6b69c35b..c0c30522 100644
--- a/userspace/engine/rule_loader.h
+++ b/userspace/engine/rule_loader.h
@@ -113,6 +113,9 @@ namespace rule_loader
 			item_type item_type,
 			const std::string& item_name,
 			const context& parent);
+		context(
+			const YAML::Mark &mark,
+			const context& parent);
 
 		// Build a context from a condition expression +
 		// parser position. This does not use the original
diff --git a/userspace/engine/rule_loader_reader.cpp b/userspace/engine/rule_loader_reader.cpp
index fa2fd3a9..fcbd16df 100644
--- a/userspace/engine/rule_loader_reader.cpp
+++ b/userspace/engine/rule_loader_reader.cpp
@@ -437,23 +437,32 @@ static void read_item(
 bool rule_loader::reader::read(rule_loader::configuration& cfg, collector& collector)
 {
 	std::vector<YAML::Node> docs;
+	rule_loader::context ctx(cfg.name);
 	try
 	{
 		docs = YAML::LoadAll(cfg.content);
 	}
-	catch(const exception& e)
+	catch (YAML::ParserException& e)
+	{
+		rule_loader::context ictx(e.mark, ctx);
+		cfg.res->add_error(falco::load_result::LOAD_ERR_YAML_PARSE, e.what(), ictx);
+		return false;
+	}
+	catch (std::exception& e)
 	{
-		rule_loader::context ctx(cfg.name);
 		cfg.res->add_error(falco::load_result::LOAD_ERR_YAML_PARSE, e.what(), ctx);
 		return false;
 	}
+	catch (...)
+	{
+		cfg.res->add_error(falco::load_result::LOAD_ERR_YAML_PARSE, "unknown YAML parsing error", ctx);
+		return false;
+	}
 
 	for (auto doc = docs.begin(); doc != docs.end(); doc++)
 	{
 		if (doc->IsDefined() && !doc->IsNull())
 		{
-			rule_loader::context ctx(cfg.name);
-
 			try {
 				THROW(!doc->IsMap() && !doc->IsSequence(),
 				       "Rules content is not yaml",
@@ -479,7 +488,23 @@ bool rule_loader::reader::read(rule_loader::configuration& cfg, collector& colle
 				// as it's effectively a new rules file, for
 				// consistency we stop at the first error.
 				return false;
-			};
+			}
+			catch (YAML::ParserException& e)
+			{
+				rule_loader::context ictx(e.mark, ctx);
+				cfg.res->add_error(falco::load_result::LOAD_ERR_YAML_VALIDATE, e.what(), ictx);
+				return false;
+			}
+			catch (std::exception& e)
+			{
+				cfg.res->add_error(falco::load_result::LOAD_ERR_VALIDATE, e.what(), ctx);
+				return false;
+			}
+			catch (...)
+			{
+				cfg.res->add_error(falco::load_result::LOAD_ERR_VALIDATE, "unknown validation error", ctx);
+				return false;
+			}
 		}
 	}