diff --git a/core/chaincode/handler.go b/core/chaincode/handler.go
index a270cca7a20..c147cb0e0b0 100644
--- a/core/chaincode/handler.go
+++ b/core/chaincode/handler.go
@@ -733,6 +733,16 @@ func (h *Handler) HandleGetStateMetadata(msg *pb.ChaincodeMessage, txContext *Tr
 
 // Handles query to ledger to rage query state
 func (h *Handler) HandleGetStateByRange(msg *pb.ChaincodeMessage, txContext *TransactionContext) (*pb.ChaincodeMessage, error) {
+	iterID := h.UUIDGenerator.New()
+	defer func() {
+		if r := recover(); r != nil {
+			chaincodeLogger.Errorf("Panic error in HandleGetStateByRange: %v", r)
+			// Clean up any query context that may have been created
+			if txContext != nil {
+				txContext.CleanupQueryContext(iterID)
+			}
+		}
+	}()
 	getStateByRange := &pb.GetStateByRange{}
 	err := proto.Unmarshal(msg.Payload, getStateByRange)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -745,7 +755,6 @@ func (h *Handler) HandleGetStateByRange(msg *pb.ChaincodeMessage, txContext *Tra
 	}
 
 	totalReturnLimit := h.calculateTotalReturnLimit(metadata)
-	iterID := h.UUIDGenerator.New()
 	var rangeIter commonledger.ResultsIterator
 	isPaginated := false
 	namespaceID := txContext.NamespaceID
diff --git a/core/chaincode/handler_test.go b/core/chaincode/handler_test.go
index 5aed680678e..30f67002871 100644
--- a/core/chaincode/handler_test.go
+++ b/core/chaincode/handler_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric-lib-go/common/metrics/metricsfakes"
 	pb "github.com/hyperledger/fabric-protos-go-apiv2/peer"
+	commonledger "github.com/hyperledger/fabric/common/ledger"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric/common/util"
 	ar "github.com/hyperledger/fabric/core/aclmgmt/resources"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric/core/chaincode"
@@ -1601,6 +1602,54 @@ var _ = Describe("Handler", func() {
 				Expect(retCount).To(BeNil())
 			})
 		})
+
+		Context("when a panic occurs during handling", func() {
+			var (
+				fakeIterator    *mock.QueryResultsIterator
+				request         *pb.GetStateByRange
+				incomingMessage *pb.ChaincodeMessage
+			)
+
+			BeforeEach(func() {
+				request = &pb.GetStateByRange{
+					StartKey: "start-key",
+					EndKey:   "end-key",
+				}
+				payload, err := proto.Marshal(request)
+				Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
+				incomingMessage = &pb.ChaincodeMessage{
+					Type:      pb.ChaincodeMessage_GET_STATE_BY_RANGE,
+					Payload:   payload,
+					Txid:      "tx-id",
+					ChannelId: "channel-id",
+				}
+
+				fakeIterator = &mock.QueryResultsIterator{}
+				fakeTxSimulator.GetStateRangeScanIteratorReturns(fakeIterator, nil)
+
+				// Set up QueryResponseBuilder to panic
+				fakeQueryResponseBuilder.BuildQueryResponseStub = func(*chaincode.TransactionContext, commonledger.ResultsIterator, string, bool, int32) (*pb.QueryResponse, error) {
+					panic("boom!")
+				}
+			})
+
+			It("recovers from the panic and cleans up the query context", func() {
+				handler.HandleGetStateByRange(incomingMessage, txContext)
+
+				// Verify the query iterator was cleaned up
+				iterator := txContext.GetQueryIterator("generated-query-id")
+				Expect(iterator).To(BeNil())
+
+				// Verify the pending query result was cleaned up
+				pqr := txContext.GetPendingQueryResult("generated-query-id")
+				Expect(pqr).To(BeNil())
+
+				// Verify the total return count was cleaned up
+				retCount := txContext.GetTotalReturnCount("generated-query-id")
+				Expect(retCount).To(BeNil())
+			})
+		})
 	})
 
 	Describe("HandleQueryStateNext", func() {