diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/workos/WorkOS.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/workos/WorkOS.kt
index 4ef78ec2..64d250a9 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/workos/WorkOS.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/workos/WorkOS.kt
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import com.workos.common.exceptions.UnauthorizedException
 import com.workos.common.exceptions.UnprocessableEntityException
 import com.workos.common.http.BadRequestExceptionResponse
 import com.workos.common.http.GenericErrorResponse
+import com.workos.common.http.OAuthErrorResponse
 import com.workos.common.http.RequestConfig
 import com.workos.common.http.UnprocessableEntityExceptionResponse
 import com.workos.directorysync.DirectorySyncApi
@@ -359,12 +360,18 @@ class WorkOS(
   }
 
   private fun handleResponseError(response: Response, payload: String) {
-    val requestId = response.header("X-Request-ID").first()
+    val requestId = response.header("X-Request-ID").firstOrNull() ?: "unknown"
 
     when (val status = response.statusCode) {
       400 -> {
-        val responseData = mapper.readValue(payload, BadRequestExceptionResponse::class.java)
-        throw BadRequestException(responseData.message, responseData.code, responseData.errors, requestId)
+        val jsonNode = mapper.readTree(payload)
+        if (jsonNode.has("error") && (jsonNode.has("error_description") || !jsonNode.has("message"))) {
+          val oauthError = mapper.treeToValue(jsonNode, OAuthErrorResponse::class.java)
+          throw BadRequestException(oauthError.errorDescription, oauthError.error, null, requestId)
+        } else {
+          val responseData = mapper.treeToValue(jsonNode, BadRequestExceptionResponse::class.java)
+          throw BadRequestException(responseData.message, responseData.code, responseData.errors, requestId)
+        }
       }
 
       401 -> {
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/workos/common/http/OAuthErrorResponse.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/workos/common/http/OAuthErrorResponse.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..58962aa8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/workos/common/http/OAuthErrorResponse.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package com.workos.common.http
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty
+
+/**
+ * Error response format for OAuth/Authentication endpoints.
+ * These endpoints return errors in the OAuth 2.0 standard format.
+ */
+internal data class OAuthErrorResponse
+@JsonCreator constructor(
+  @JsonProperty("error")
+  val error: String? = null,
+
+  @JsonProperty("error_description")
+  val errorDescription: String? = null
+)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/com/workos/test/user_management/UserManagementApiTest.kt b/src/test/kotlin/com/workos/test/user_management/UserManagementApiTest.kt
index 7a4f48a9..9f9db9c4 100644
--- a/src/test/kotlin/com/workos/test/user_management/UserManagementApiTest.kt
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/com/workos/test/user_management/UserManagementApiTest.kt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package com.workos.test.usermanagement
 
+import com.workos.common.exceptions.BadRequestException
 import com.workos.common.models.ListMetadata
 import com.workos.common.models.Order
 import com.workos.test.TestBase
@@ -494,6 +495,55 @@ class UserManagementApiTest : TestBase() {
     assertEquals(listOf("email", "profile"), response.oauthTokens?.scopes)
   }
 
+  @Test
+  fun authenticateWithCodeShouldHandleOAuthErrorResponse() {
+    // Tests fix for issue #287: OAuth error responses have different format
+    stubResponse(
+      "/user_management/authenticate",
+      """{
+        "error": "invalid_grant",
+        "error_description": "The code 'INVALID_CODE' has expired or is invalid."
+      }""",
+      responseStatus = 400
+    )
+
+    val exception = assertThrows(BadRequestException::class.java) {
+      workos.userManagement.authenticateWithCode(
+        "client_123",
+        "INVALID_CODE",
+        null
+      )
+    }
+
+    // OAuth errors should map error_description to message and error to code
+    assertEquals("The code 'INVALID_CODE' has expired or is invalid.", exception.message)
+    assertEquals("invalid_grant", exception.code)
+    assertEquals(null, exception.errors)
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  fun authenticateWithCodeShouldHandleOAuthErrorWithoutDescription() {
+    // OAuth spec allows error_description to be optional
+    stubResponse(
+      "/user_management/authenticate",
+      """{
+        "error": "invalid_client"
+      }""",
+      responseStatus = 400
+    )
+
+    val exception = assertThrows(BadRequestException::class.java) {
+      workos.userManagement.authenticateWithCode(
+        "client_123",
+        "SOME_CODE",
+        null
+      )
+    }
+
+    assertEquals("invalid_client", exception.code)
+    assertEquals(null, exception.message)
+  }
+
   @Test
   fun authenticateWithPasswordShouldReturnAuthenticationResponse() {
     val workos = createWorkOSClient()