diff --git a/common/sketch/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/util/sketch/BloomFilter.java b/common/sketch/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/util/sketch/BloomFilter.java
index c918e778eead6..38949c6311df8 100644
--- a/common/sketch/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/util/sketch/BloomFilter.java
+++ b/common/sketch/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/util/sketch/BloomFilter.java
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ public abstract class BloomFilter {
    * @param other The bloom filter to combine this bloom filter with. It is not mutated.
    * @throws IllegalArgumentException if {@code isCompatible(that) == false}
    */
-  public abstract BloomFilter mergeInPlace(BloomFilter other);
+  public abstract BloomFilter mergeInPlace(BloomFilter other) throws IncompatibleMergeException;
 
   /**
    * Returns {@code true} if the element <i>might</i> have been put in this Bloom filter,
diff --git a/common/sketch/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/util/sketch/BloomFilterImpl.java b/common/sketch/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/util/sketch/BloomFilterImpl.java
index 980a0c5effbbc..bbd6cf719dc0e 100644
--- a/common/sketch/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/util/sketch/BloomFilterImpl.java
+++ b/common/sketch/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/util/sketch/BloomFilterImpl.java
@@ -135,12 +135,29 @@ public boolean isCompatible(BloomFilter other) {
   }
 
   @Override
-  public BloomFilter mergeInPlace(BloomFilter other) {
-    if (!isCompatible(other)) {
-      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Can't merge incompatible bloom filter");
+  public BloomFilter mergeInPlace(BloomFilter other) throws IncompatibleMergeException {
+    // Duplicates the logic of `isCompatible` here to provide better error message.
+    if (other == null) {
+      throw new IncompatibleMergeException("Cannot merge null bloom filter");
+    }
+
+    if (!(other instanceof BloomFilter)) {
+      throw new IncompatibleMergeException(
+        "Cannot merge bloom filter of class " + other.getClass().getName()
+      );
     }
 
     BloomFilterImpl that = (BloomFilterImpl) other;
+
+    if (this.bitSize() != that.bitSize()) {
+      throw new IncompatibleMergeException("Cannot merge bloom filters with different bit size");
+    }
+
+    if (this.numHashFunctions != that.numHashFunctions) {
+      throw new IncompatibleMergeException(
+        "Cannot merge bloom filters with different number of hash functions");
+    }
+
     this.bits.putAll(that.bits);
     return this;
   }
diff --git a/common/sketch/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/sketch/BloomFilterSuite.scala b/common/sketch/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/sketch/BloomFilterSuite.scala
index 185d49be72df6..d2de509f19517 100644
--- a/common/sketch/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/sketch/BloomFilterSuite.scala
+++ b/common/sketch/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/sketch/BloomFilterSuite.scala
@@ -93,4 +93,22 @@ class BloomFilterSuite extends FunSuite { // scalastyle:ignore funsuite
   testItemType[Long]("Long", 100000) { _.nextLong() }
 
   testItemType[String]("String", 100000) { r => r.nextString(r.nextInt(512)) }
+
+  test("incompatible merge") {
+    intercept[IncompatibleMergeException] {
+      BloomFilter.create(1000).mergeInPlace(null)
+    }
+
+    intercept[IncompatibleMergeException] {
+      val filter1 = BloomFilter.create(1000, 6400)
+      val filter2 = BloomFilter.create(1000, 3200)
+      filter1.mergeInPlace(filter2)
+    }
+
+    intercept[IncompatibleMergeException] {
+      val filter1 = BloomFilter.create(1000, 6400)
+      val filter2 = BloomFilter.create(2000, 6400)
+      filter1.mergeInPlace(filter2)
+    }
+  }
 }