diff --git a/cmd/api-errors.go b/cmd/api-errors.go
index 674b0a1fa3c9b..c2fae9a39ebac 100644
--- a/cmd/api-errors.go
+++ b/cmd/api-errors.go
@@ -944,13 +944,13 @@ var errorCodes = errorCodeMap{
 		HTTPStatusCode: http.StatusBadRequest,
 	},
 	ErrPastObjectLockRetainDate: {
-		Code:           "InvalidRequest",
-		Description:    "the retain until date must be in the future",
+		Code:           "InvalidArgument",
+		Description:    "The retain until date must be in the future",
 		HTTPStatusCode: http.StatusBadRequest,
 	},
 	ErrUnknownWORMModeDirective: {
-		Code:           "InvalidRequest",
-		Description:    "unknown wormMode directive",
+		Code:           "InvalidArgument",
+		Description:    "Unknown wormMode directive",
 		HTTPStatusCode: http.StatusBadRequest,
 	},
 	ErrObjectLockInvalidHeaders: {
diff --git a/cmd/object-handlers.go b/cmd/object-handlers.go
index 87657863b5da8..349cd954d0fa5 100644
--- a/cmd/object-handlers.go
+++ b/cmd/object-handlers.go
@@ -3134,9 +3134,7 @@ func (api ObjectAPIHandlers) PutObjectRetentionHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r
 
 	objRetention, err := objectlock.ParseObjectRetention(r.Body)
 	if err != nil {
-		apiErr := errorCodes.ToAPIErr(ErrMalformedXML)
-		apiErr.Description = err.Error()
-		WriteErrorResponse(ctx, w, apiErr, r.URL, guessIsBrowserReq(r))
+		WriteErrorResponse(ctx, w, ToAPIError(ctx, err), r.URL, guessIsBrowserReq(r))
 		return
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/bucket/object/lock/lock.go b/pkg/bucket/object/lock/lock.go
index 2ed40d7135508..68c8617ef7d14 100644
--- a/pkg/bucket/object/lock/lock.go
+++ b/pkg/bucket/object/lock/lock.go
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ func ParseObjectRetention(reader io.Reader) (*ObjectRetention, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	if ret.Mode != "" && !ret.Mode.Valid() {
-		return &ret, ErrUnknownWORMModeDirective
+		return &ret, ErrMalformedXML
 	}
 
 	if ret.Mode.Valid() && ret.RetainUntilDate.IsZero() {