diff --git a/hugegraph-pd/hg-pd-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hugegraph/pd/rest/StoreAPI.java b/hugegraph-pd/hg-pd-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hugegraph/pd/rest/StoreAPI.java
index b3c30ca9e1..4fcf3660f5 100644
--- a/hugegraph-pd/hg-pd-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hugegraph/pd/rest/StoreAPI.java
+++ b/hugegraph-pd/hg-pd-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hugegraph/pd/rest/StoreAPI.java
@@ -150,9 +150,14 @@ public Map<String, List<Integer>> shardLeaders() throws PDException {
         return leaders;
     }
 
-    @GetMapping(value = "/balanceLeaders")
-    public Map<Integer, Long> balanceLeaders() throws PDException {
-        return pdRestService.balancePartitionLeader();
+    @GetMapping(value = "/balanceLeaders", produces = MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE)
+    @ResponseBody
+    public String balanceLeaders() {
+        try {
+            return toJSON(pdRestService.balancePartitionLeader());
+        } catch (PDException e) {
+            return toJSON(e);
+        }
     }
 
     @DeleteMapping(value = "/store/{storeId}")
diff --git a/hugegraph-pd/hg-pd-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hugegraph/pd/rest/TaskAPI.java b/hugegraph-pd/hg-pd-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hugegraph/pd/rest/TaskAPI.java
index a1876141b9..60aad2d554 100644
--- a/hugegraph-pd/hg-pd-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hugegraph/pd/rest/TaskAPI.java
+++ b/hugegraph-pd/hg-pd-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hugegraph/pd/rest/TaskAPI.java
@@ -89,9 +89,16 @@ public String splitPartitions() {
         }
     }
 
-    @GetMapping(value = "/balanceLeaders")
-    public Map<Integer, Long> balanceLeaders() throws PDException {
-        return pdRestService.balancePartitionLeader();
+    @GetMapping(value = "/balanceLeaders", produces = MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE)
+    @ResponseBody
+    public String balanceLeaders() {
+        try {
+            Map<Integer, Long> leaders = pdRestService.balancePartitionLeader();
+            return toJSON(leaders);
+        } catch (PDException e) {
+            e.printStackTrace();
+            return toJSON(e);
+        }
     }
 
     @GetMapping(value = "/compact")
diff --git a/hugegraph-pd/hg-pd-service/src/test/java/org/apache/hugegraph/pd/rest/BalanceLeadersAPITest.java b/hugegraph-pd/hg-pd-service/src/test/java/org/apache/hugegraph/pd/rest/BalanceLeadersAPITest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e8410de215
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hugegraph-pd/hg-pd-service/src/test/java/org/apache/hugegraph/pd/rest/BalanceLeadersAPITest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.hugegraph.pd.rest;
+
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.apache.hugegraph.pd.common.PDException;
+import org.apache.hugegraph.pd.service.PDRestService;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.type.TypeReference;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+
+/**
+ * Pins the body of the two routes to the same leader balance, {@code GET /v1/task/balanceLeaders}
+ * and {@code GET /v1/balanceLeaders}, when the balance is refused, for example inside the window
+ * after {@code balancePartitions} sets the balance-shard key. Both must answer the status and
+ * reason like their sibling endpoints do, not let the {@link PDException} escape as a bare
+ * HTTP 500.
+ */
+public class BalanceLeadersAPITest {
+
+    private static final String REASON = "balance shard is processing, please try later!";
+
+    private static final LeaderBalance REFUSED = () -> {
+        throw new PDException(1001, REASON);
+    };
+
+    private static final LeaderBalance BALANCED = () -> Map.of(1, 2L);
+
+    @Test
+    public void testTaskRouteRefusedBalanceReturnsErrorBody() throws Exception {
+        TaskAPI api = new TaskAPI();
+        api.pdRestService = service(REFUSED);
+
+        assertErrorBody(api.balanceLeaders());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testTaskRouteSuccessfulBalanceKeepsBody() {
+        TaskAPI api = new TaskAPI();
+        api.pdRestService = service(BALANCED);
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("{\"1\":2}", api.balanceLeaders());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testStoreRouteRefusedBalanceReturnsErrorBody() throws Exception {
+        StoreAPI api = new StoreAPI();
+        api.pdRestService = service(REFUSED);
+
+        assertErrorBody(api.balanceLeaders());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testStoreRouteSuccessfulBalanceKeepsBody() {
+        StoreAPI api = new StoreAPI();
+        api.pdRestService = service(BALANCED);
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("{\"1\":2}", api.balanceLeaders());
+    }
+
+    private static PDRestService service(LeaderBalance balance) {
+        return new PDRestService() {
+            @Override
+            public Map<Integer, Long> balancePartitionLeader() throws PDException {
+                return balance.run();
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
+    private static void assertErrorBody(String json) throws Exception {
+        Map<String, Object> body = new ObjectMapper().readValue(
+                json, new TypeReference<Map<String, Object>>() {
+                });
+
+        Assert.assertEquals(1001, body.get("status"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(REASON, body.get("error"));
+    }
+
+    private interface LeaderBalance {
+
+        Map<Integer, Long> run() throws PDException;
+    }
+}