diff --git a/pkg/leakybucket/blackhole.go b/pkg/leakybucket/blackhole.go
index bda2e7c9ed1..95ea18f723b 100644
--- a/pkg/leakybucket/blackhole.go
+++ b/pkg/leakybucket/blackhole.go
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ type Blackhole struct {
 func NewBlackhole(bucketFactory *BucketFactory) (*Blackhole, error) {
 	duration, err := time.ParseDuration(bucketFactory.Blackhole)
 	if err != nil {
-		bucketFactory.logger.Warning("Blackhole duration not valid, using 1h")
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("blackhole duration not valid '%s'", bucketFactory.Blackhole)
 	}
 	return &Blackhole{
diff --git a/pkg/leakybucket/manager_load.go b/pkg/leakybucket/manager_load.go
index 6e601bb2ec1..13ce1df75ae 100644
--- a/pkg/leakybucket/manager_load.go
+++ b/pkg/leakybucket/manager_load.go
@@ -405,11 +405,22 @@ func LoadBucket(bucketFactory *BucketFactory, tomb *tomb.Tomb) error {
 	if bucketFactory.Distinct != "" {
 		bucketFactory.logger.Tracef("Adding a non duplicate filter")
 		bucketFactory.processors = append(bucketFactory.processors, &Uniq{})
+		bucketFactory.logger.Infof("Compiling distinct '%s'", bucketFactory.Distinct)
+		//we're compiling and discarding the expression to be able to detect it during loading
+		_, err = expr.Compile(bucketFactory.Distinct, exprhelpers.GetExprOptions(map[string]interface{}{"evt": &types.Event{}})...)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid distinct '%s' in %s: %w", bucketFactory.Distinct, bucketFactory.Filename, err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	if bucketFactory.CancelOnFilter != "" {
 		bucketFactory.logger.Tracef("Adding a cancel_on filter")
 		bucketFactory.processors = append(bucketFactory.processors, &CancelOnFilter{})
+		//we're compiling and discarding the expression to be able to detect it during loading
+		_, err = expr.Compile(bucketFactory.CancelOnFilter, exprhelpers.GetExprOptions(map[string]interface{}{"evt": &types.Event{}})...)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid cancel_on '%s' in %s: %w", bucketFactory.CancelOnFilter, bucketFactory.Filename, err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	if bucketFactory.OverflowFilter != "" {
@@ -439,6 +450,11 @@ func LoadBucket(bucketFactory *BucketFactory, tomb *tomb.Tomb) error {
 	if bucketFactory.ConditionalOverflow != "" {
 		bucketFactory.logger.Tracef("Adding conditional overflow")
 		bucketFactory.processors = append(bucketFactory.processors, &ConditionalOverflow{})
+		//we're compiling and discarding the expression to be able to detect it during loading
+		_, err = expr.Compile(bucketFactory.ConditionalOverflow, exprhelpers.GetExprOptions(map[string]interface{}{"queue": &types.Queue{}, "leaky": &Leaky{}, "evt": &types.Event{}})...)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid condition '%s' in %s: %w", bucketFactory.ConditionalOverflow, bucketFactory.Filename, err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	if bucketFactory.BayesianThreshold != 0 {
diff --git a/pkg/leakybucket/manager_load_test.go b/pkg/leakybucket/manager_load_test.go
index 9d207da164e..6b40deb8c9e 100644
--- a/pkg/leakybucket/manager_load_test.go
+++ b/pkg/leakybucket/manager_load_test.go
@@ -64,10 +64,24 @@ func TestLeakyBucketsConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		{BucketFactory{Name: "test", Description: "test1", Type: "leaky", Capacity: 1, LeakSpeed: "1s", Filter: "true"}, true, true},
 		// leaky with invalid filter
 		{BucketFactory{Name: "test", Description: "test1", Type: "leaky", Capacity: 1, LeakSpeed: "1s", Filter: "xu"}, false, true},
+		// leaky with invalid uniq
+		{BucketFactory{Name: "test", Description: "test1", Type: "leaky", Capacity: 1, LeakSpeed: "1s", Filter: "true", Distinct: "foo"}, false, true},
+		// leaky with valid uniq
+		{BucketFactory{Name: "test", Description: "test1", Type: "leaky", Capacity: 1, LeakSpeed: "1s", Filter: "true", Distinct: "evt.Parsed.foobar"}, true, true},
 		// leaky with valid filter
 		{BucketFactory{Name: "test", Description: "test1", Type: "leaky", Capacity: 1, LeakSpeed: "1s", Filter: "true"}, true, true},
 		// leaky with bad overflow filter
 		{BucketFactory{Name: "test", Description: "test1", Type: "leaky", Capacity: 1, LeakSpeed: "1s", Filter: "true", OverflowFilter: "xu"}, false, true},
+		// leaky with valid overflow filter
+		{BucketFactory{Name: "test", Description: "test1", Type: "leaky", Capacity: 1, LeakSpeed: "1s", Filter: "true", OverflowFilter: "true"}, true, true},
+		// leaky with invalid cancel_on filter
+		{BucketFactory{Name: "test", Description: "test1", Type: "leaky", Capacity: 1, LeakSpeed: "1s", Filter: "true", CancelOnFilter: "xu"}, false, true},
+		// leaky with valid cancel_on filter
+		{BucketFactory{Name: "test", Description: "test1", Type: "leaky", Capacity: 1, LeakSpeed: "1s", Filter: "true", CancelOnFilter: "true"}, true, true},
+		// leaky with invalid conditional overflow filter
+		{BucketFactory{Name: "test", Description: "test1", Type: "leaky", Capacity: 1, LeakSpeed: "1s", Filter: "true", ConditionalOverflow: "xu"}, false, true},
+		// leaky with valid conditional overflow filter
+		{BucketFactory{Name: "test", Description: "test1", Type: "leaky", Capacity: 1, LeakSpeed: "1s", Filter: "true", ConditionalOverflow: "true"}, true, true},
 	}
 
 	if err := runTest(CfgTests); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/leakybucket/uniq.go b/pkg/leakybucket/uniq.go
index 3a4683ae309..8a97f30b092 100644
--- a/pkg/leakybucket/uniq.go
+++ b/pkg/leakybucket/uniq.go
@@ -60,9 +60,6 @@ func (u *Uniq) AfterBucketPour(bucketFactory *BucketFactory) func(types.Event, *
 }
 
 func (u *Uniq) OnBucketInit(bucketFactory *BucketFactory) error {
-	var err error
-	var compiledExpr *vm.Program
-
 	if uniqExprCache == nil {
 		uniqExprCache = make(map[string]vm.Program)
 	}
@@ -74,14 +71,17 @@ func (u *Uniq) OnBucketInit(bucketFactory *BucketFactory) error {
 	} else {
 		uniqExprCacheLock.Unlock()
 		//release the lock during compile
-		compiledExpr, err = expr.Compile(bucketFactory.Distinct, exprhelpers.GetExprOptions(map[string]interface{}{"evt": &types.Event{}})...)
+		compiledExpr, err := expr.Compile(bucketFactory.Distinct, exprhelpers.GetExprOptions(map[string]interface{}{"evt": &types.Event{}})...)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 		u.DistinctCompiled = compiledExpr
 		uniqExprCacheLock.Lock()
 		uniqExprCache[bucketFactory.Distinct] = *compiledExpr
 		uniqExprCacheLock.Unlock()
 	}
 	u.KeyCache = make(map[string]bool)
-	return err
+	return nil
 }
 
 // getElement computes a string from an event and a filter