diff --git a/src/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-request.php b/src/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-request.php
index 80c58bf5b1..15c4728941 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-request.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-request.php
@@ -780,10 +780,9 @@ class WP_REST_Request implements ArrayAccess {
 	 * @since 4.4.0
 	 * @access public
 	 *
-	 * @return true|null True if there are no parameters to sanitize, null otherwise.
+	 * @return true|WP_Error True if parameters were sanitized, WP_Error if an error occurred during sanitization.
 	 */
 	public function sanitize_params() {
-
 		$attributes = $this->get_attributes();
 
 		// No arguments set, skip sanitizing.
@@ -793,18 +792,33 @@ class WP_REST_Request implements ArrayAccess {
 
 		$order = $this->get_parameter_order();
 
+		$invalid_params = array();
+
 		foreach ( $order as $type ) {
 			if ( empty( $this->params[ $type ] ) ) {
 				continue;
 			}
 			foreach ( $this->params[ $type ] as $key => $value ) {
 				// Check if this param has a sanitize_callback added.
-				if ( isset( $attributes['args'][ $key ] ) && ! empty( $attributes['args'][ $key ]['sanitize_callback'] ) ) {
-					$this->params[ $type ][ $key ] = call_user_func( $attributes['args'][ $key ]['sanitize_callback'], $value, $this, $key );
+				if ( ! isset( $attributes['args'][ $key ] ) || empty( $attributes['args'][ $key ]['sanitize_callback'] ) ) {
+					continue;
+				}
+
+				$sanitized_value = call_user_func( $attributes['args'][ $key ]['sanitize_callback'], $value, $this, $key );
+
+				if ( is_wp_error( $sanitized_value ) ) {
+					$invalid_params[ $key ] = $sanitized_value->get_error_message();
+				} else {
+					$this->params[ $type ][ $key ] = $sanitized_value;
 				}
 			}
 		}
-		return null;
+
+		if ( $invalid_params ) {
+			return new WP_Error( 'rest_invalid_param', sprintf( __( 'Invalid parameter(s): %s' ), implode( ', ', array_keys( $invalid_params ) ) ), array( 'status' => 400, 'params' => $invalid_params ) );
+		}
+
+		return true;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -817,7 +831,6 @@ class WP_REST_Request implements ArrayAccess {
 	 *                       WP_Error if required parameters are missing.
 	 */
 	public function has_valid_params() {
-
 		$attributes = $this->get_attributes();
 		$required = array();
 
diff --git a/src/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php b/src/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php
index 7a45906690..1e5914bfe7 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php
@@ -866,9 +866,12 @@ class WP_REST_Server {
 					$check_required = $request->has_valid_params();
 					if ( is_wp_error( $check_required ) ) {
 						$response = $check_required;
+					} else {
+						$check_sanitized = $request->sanitize_params();
+						if ( is_wp_error( $check_sanitized ) ) {
+							$response = $check_sanitized;
+						}
 					}
-
-					$request->sanitize_params();
 				}
 
 				if ( ! is_wp_error( $response ) ) {
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api/rest-request.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api/rest-request.php
index bd6548341e..925853c8cd 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api/rest-request.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/rest-api/rest-request.php
@@ -309,6 +309,27 @@ class Tests_REST_Request extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 		$this->assertEquals( 0, $this->request->get_param( 'somestring' ) );
 	}
 
+	public function test_sanitize_params_error() {
+		$this->request->set_url_params( array(
+			'successparam' => '123',
+			'failparam'    => '123',
+		));
+		$this->request->set_attributes( array(
+			'args' => array(
+				'successparam' => array(
+					'sanitize_callback' => 'absint',
+				),
+				'failparam' => array(
+					'sanitize_callback' => array( $this, '_return_wp_error_on_validate_callback' ),
+				),
+			),
+		));
+
+		$valid = $this->request->sanitize_params();
+		$this->assertWPError( $valid );
+		$this->assertEquals( 'rest_invalid_param', $valid->get_error_code() );
+	}
+
 	public function test_has_valid_params_required_flag() {
 		$this->request->set_attributes( array(
 			'args' => array(