diff --git a/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/saml.py b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/saml.py
index f31d48f004..1b67fe5efd 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/saml.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/saml.py
@@ -10,10 +10,11 @@ import requests
 from django.contrib.sites.models import Site
 from django.http import Http404
 from django.utils.functional import cached_property
+from django.utils.datastructures import MultiValueDictKeyError
 from django_countries import countries
 from onelogin.saml2.settings import OneLogin_Saml2_Settings
 from social_core.backends.saml import OID_EDU_PERSON_ENTITLEMENT, SAMLAuth, SAMLIdentityProvider
-from social_core.exceptions import AuthForbidden
+from social_core.exceptions import AuthForbidden, AuthMissingParameter
 
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.theming.helpers import get_current_request
 from common.djangoapps.third_party_auth.exceptions import IncorrectConfigurationException
@@ -84,6 +85,17 @@ class SAMLAuthBackend(SAMLAuth):  # pylint: disable=abstract-method
         else:
             return super().generate_saml_config()
 
+    def auth_complete(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Handle exceptions that happen during SAML authentication
+        """
+        try:
+            return super().auth_complete(*args, **kwargs)
+        # We are seeing errors of MultiValueDictKeyError looking for the parameter 'RelayState'.
+        # We would like to have a more specific error to handle for observability purposes.
+        except MultiValueDictKeyError as e:
+            raise AuthMissingParameter(self.name, e.args[0]) from e
+
     def get_user_id(self, details, response):
         """
         Calling the parent function and handling the exception properly.
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/tests/test_saml.py b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/tests/test_saml.py
index 9bb49aa52a..6b966a3e6e 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/tests/test_saml.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/tests/test_saml.py
@@ -5,7 +5,10 @@ Unit tests for third_party_auth SAML auth providers
 
 from unittest import mock
 
-from common.djangoapps.third_party_auth.saml import EdXSAMLIdentityProvider, get_saml_idp_class
+from django.utils.datastructures import MultiValueDictKeyError
+from social_core.exceptions import AuthMissingParameter
+
+from common.djangoapps.third_party_auth.saml import EdXSAMLIdentityProvider, get_saml_idp_class, SAMLAuthBackend
 from common.djangoapps.third_party_auth.tests.data.saml_identity_provider_mock_data import (
     expected_user_details,
     mock_attributes,
@@ -32,3 +35,16 @@ class TestEdXSAMLIdentityProvider(SAMLTestCase):
         """ test get_attr and get_user_details of EdXSAMLIdentityProvider"""
         edx_saml_identity_provider = EdXSAMLIdentityProvider('demo', **mock_conf)
         assert edx_saml_identity_provider.get_user_details(mock_attributes) == expected_user_details
+
+
+class TestSAMLAuthBackend(SAMLTestCase):
+    """ Tests for the SAML backend. """
+
+    @mock.patch('common.djangoapps.third_party_auth.saml.SAMLAuth.auth_complete')
+    def test_saml_auth_complete(self, super_auth_complete):
+        super_auth_complete.side_effect = MultiValueDictKeyError('RelayState')
+        backend = SAMLAuthBackend()
+        with self.assertRaises(AuthMissingParameter) as cm:
+            backend.auth_complete()
+
+        assert cm.exception.parameter == 'RelayState'