diff --git a/include/maxscale/config.h b/include/maxscale/config.h
index 3b3f27125..d1d664121 100644
--- a/include/maxscale/config.h
+++ b/include/maxscale/config.h
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ MXS_BEGIN_DECLS
 #define MAX_ADMIN_HOST_LEN      1024
 
 /** JSON Pointers to key parts of JSON objects */
+#define MXS_JSON_PTR_DATA       "/data"
 #define MXS_JSON_PTR_ID         "/data/id"
 #define MXS_JSON_PTR_PARAMETERS "/data/attributes/parameters"
 
diff --git a/server/core/config_runtime.cc b/server/core/config_runtime.cc
index 97756d072..0bc4c0238 100644
--- a/server/core/config_runtime.cc
+++ b/server/core/config_runtime.cc
@@ -843,6 +843,12 @@ static inline const char* string_or_null(json_t* json, const char* path)
     return rval;
 }
 
+/** Check that the body at least defies a data member */
+static bool is_valid_resource_body(json_t* json)
+{
+    return mxs_json_pointer(json, MXS_JSON_PTR_DATA);
+}
+
 static bool server_contains_required_fields(json_t* json)
 {
     json_t* id = mxs_json_pointer(json, MXS_JSON_PTR_ID);
@@ -911,7 +917,8 @@ SERVER* runtime_create_server_from_json(json_t* json)
 {
     SERVER* rval = NULL;
 
-    if (server_contains_required_fields(json))
+    if (is_valid_resource_body(json) &&
+        server_contains_required_fields(json))
     {
         const char* name = json_string_value(mxs_json_pointer(json, MXS_JSON_PTR_ID));
         const char* address = json_string_value(mxs_json_pointer(json, MXS_JSON_PTR_PARAM_ADDRESS));
@@ -987,7 +994,8 @@ bool runtime_alter_server_from_json(SERVER* server, json_t* new_json)
     Closer<json_t*> old_json(server_to_json(server, ""));
     ss_dassert(old_json.get());
 
-    if (server_to_object_relations(server, old_json.get(), new_json))
+    if (is_valid_resource_body(new_json) &&
+        server_to_object_relations(server, old_json.get(), new_json))
     {
         rval = true;
         json_t* parameters = mxs_json_pointer(new_json, MXS_JSON_PTR_PARAMETERS);
@@ -1043,7 +1051,8 @@ static bool validate_monitor_json(json_t* json)
     bool rval = false;
     json_t* value;
 
-    if ((value = mxs_json_pointer(json, MXS_JSON_PTR_ID)) && json_is_string(value) &&
+    if (is_valid_resource_body(json) &&
+        (value = mxs_json_pointer(json, MXS_JSON_PTR_ID)) && json_is_string(value) &&
         (value = mxs_json_pointer(json, MXS_JSON_PTR_MODULE)) && json_is_string(value))
     {
         set<string> relations;
@@ -1158,7 +1167,8 @@ bool runtime_alter_monitor_from_json(MXS_MONITOR* monitor, json_t* new_json)
     Closer<json_t*> old_json(monitor_to_json(monitor, ""));
     ss_dassert(old_json.get());
 
-    if (object_to_server_relations(monitor->name, old_json.get(), new_json))
+    if (is_valid_resource_body(new_json) &&
+        object_to_server_relations(monitor->name, old_json.get(), new_json))
     {
         rval = true;
         bool changed = false;
@@ -1223,7 +1233,8 @@ bool runtime_alter_service_from_json(SERVICE* service, json_t* new_json)
     Closer<json_t*> old_json(service_to_json(service, ""));
     ss_dassert(old_json.get());
 
-    if (object_to_server_relations(service->name, old_json.get(), new_json))
+    if (is_valid_resource_body(new_json) &&
+        object_to_server_relations(service->name, old_json.get(), new_json))
     {
         bool changed = false;
         json_t* parameters = mxs_json_pointer(new_json, MXS_JSON_PTR_PARAMETERS);
diff --git a/server/core/test/rest-api/test/errors.js b/server/core/test/rest-api/test/errors.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c8885a81e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/core/test/rest-api/test/errors.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+require("../utils.js")()
+
+
+describe("Errors", function()
+{
+    before(startMaxScale)
+
+    it("error on invalid PUT request", function()
+    {
+        return request.put(base_url + "/servers/server1", { json: {this_is: "a test"}})
+               .should.be.rejected
+    })
+
+    it("error on invalid POST request", function()
+    {
+        return request.post(base_url + "/servers", { json: {this_is: "a test"}})
+               .should.be.rejected
+    })
+
+    after(stopMaxScale)
+});