diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 80c86fc..e3f5030 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+v30.4.5 - 2026-03-03
+--------------------
+
+This is a minor bugfix release:
+
+- Fix validate() to properly report errors for invalid expressions with
+  trailing operators (e.g. "GPL-3.0-or-later AND").
+
 v30.4.4 - 2025-01-10
 --------------------
 
diff --git a/src/license_expression/__init__.py b/src/license_expression/__init__.py
index dc1ab31..712e2df 100644
--- a/src/license_expression/__init__.py
+++ b/src/license_expression/__init__.py
@@ -785,10 +785,13 @@ def validate(self, expression, strict=True, **kwargs):
         # Check `expression` type and syntax
         try:
             parsed_expression = self.parse(expression, strict=strict)
-        except ExpressionError as e:
+        except ExpressionParseError as e:
             expression_info.errors.append(str(e))
             expression_info.invalid_symbols.append(e.token_string)
             return expression_info
+        except ExpressionError as e:
+            expression_info.errors.append(str(e))
+            return expression_info
 
         # Check `expression` keys (validate)
         try:
diff --git a/tests/test_license_expression.py b/tests/test_license_expression.py
index 193fafd..e43e057 100644
--- a/tests/test_license_expression.py
+++ b/tests/test_license_expression.py
@@ -2472,6 +2472,45 @@ def test_validation_invalid_license_exception_strict_false(self):
         assert result.errors == []
         assert result.invalid_symbols == []
 
+    def test_validate_trailing_and_operator(self):
+        result = self.licensing.validate("GPL-2.0-or-later AND")
+        assert result.original_expression == "GPL-2.0-or-later AND"
+        assert not result.normalized_expression
+        assert len(result.errors) == 1
+        assert "AND" in result.errors[0]
+
+    def test_validate_trailing_or_operator(self):
+        result = self.licensing.validate("GPL-2.0-or-later OR")
+        assert result.original_expression == "GPL-2.0-or-later OR"
+        assert not result.normalized_expression
+        assert len(result.errors) == 1
+        assert "OR" in result.errors[0]
+
+    def test_validate_trailing_with_operator(self):
+        result = self.licensing.validate("GPL-2.0-or-later WITH")
+        assert result.original_expression == "GPL-2.0-or-later WITH"
+        assert not result.normalized_expression
+        assert len(result.errors) == 1
+
+    def test_validate_multiple_trailing_operators(self):
+        result = self.licensing.validate("GPL-2.0-or-later AND MIT OR")
+        assert result.original_expression == "GPL-2.0-or-later AND MIT OR"
+        assert not result.normalized_expression
+        assert len(result.errors) == 1
+        assert "OR" in result.errors[0]
+
+    def test_validate_leading_operator(self):
+        result = self.licensing.validate("AND MIT")
+        assert result.original_expression == "AND MIT"
+        assert not result.normalized_expression
+        assert len(result.errors) == 1
+
+    def test_validate_only_operators(self):
+        result = self.licensing.validate("AND OR")
+        assert result.original_expression == "AND OR"
+        assert not result.normalized_expression
+        assert len(result.errors) == 1
+
 
 class UtilTest(TestCase):
     test_data_dir = join(dirname(__file__), "data")