diff --git a/backend/data_import/celery_tasks.py b/backend/data_import/celery_tasks.py
index 7f3c4249..c51b7557 100644
--- a/backend/data_import/celery_tasks.py
+++ b/backend/data_import/celery_tasks.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from django_drf_filepond.api import store_upload
 from django_drf_filepond.models import TemporaryUpload
 
 from .datasets import load_dataset
-from .pipeline.catalog import AudioFile, ImageFile
+from .pipeline.catalog import Format, create_file_format
 from .pipeline.exceptions import (
     FileImportException,
     FileTypeException,
@@ -19,21 +19,15 @@ from .pipeline.readers import FileName
 from projects.models import Project
 
 
-def check_file_type(filename, file_format: str, filepath: str):
+def check_file_type(filename, file_format: Format, filepath: str):
     if not settings.ENABLE_FILE_TYPE_CHECK:
         return
     kind = filetype.guess(filepath)
-    if file_format == ImageFile.name:
-        accept_types = ImageFile.accept_types.replace(" ", "").split(",")
-    elif file_format == AudioFile.name:
-        accept_types = AudioFile.accept_types.replace(" ", "").split(",")
-    else:
-        return
-    if kind.mime not in accept_types:
-        raise FileTypeException(filename, kind.mime, accept_types)
+    if not file_format.validate_mime(kind.mime):
+        raise FileTypeException(filename, kind.mime, file_format.accept_types)
 
 
-def check_uploaded_files(upload_ids: List[str], file_format: str):
+def check_uploaded_files(upload_ids: List[str], file_format: Format):
     errors: List[FileImportException] = []
     cleaned_ids = []
     temporary_uploads = TemporaryUpload.objects.filter(upload_id__in=upload_ids)
@@ -56,19 +50,22 @@ def check_uploaded_files(upload_ids: List[str], file_format: str):
 def import_dataset(user_id, project_id, file_format: str, upload_ids: List[str], task: str, **kwargs):
     project = get_object_or_404(Project, pk=project_id)
     user = get_object_or_404(get_user_model(), pk=user_id)
+    try:
+        fmt = create_file_format(file_format)
+        upload_ids, errors = check_uploaded_files(upload_ids, fmt)
+        temporary_uploads = TemporaryUpload.objects.filter(upload_id__in=upload_ids)
+        filenames = [
+            FileName(full_path=tu.get_file_path(), generated_name=tu.file.name, upload_name=tu.upload_name)
+            for tu in temporary_uploads
+        ]
 
-    upload_ids, errors = check_uploaded_files(upload_ids, file_format)
-    temporary_uploads = TemporaryUpload.objects.filter(upload_id__in=upload_ids)
-    filenames = [
-        FileName(full_path=tu.get_file_path(), generated_name=tu.file.name, upload_name=tu.upload_name)
-        for tu in temporary_uploads
-    ]
-
-    dataset = load_dataset(task, file_format, filenames, project, **kwargs)
-    dataset.save(user, batch_size=settings.IMPORT_BATCH_SIZE)
-    upload_to_store(temporary_uploads)
-    errors.extend(dataset.errors)
-    return {"error": [e.dict() for e in errors]}
+        dataset = load_dataset(task, fmt, filenames, project, **kwargs)
+        dataset.save(user, batch_size=settings.IMPORT_BATCH_SIZE)
+        upload_to_store(temporary_uploads)
+        errors.extend(dataset.errors)
+        return {"error": [e.dict() for e in errors]}
+    except FileImportException as e:
+        return {"error": [e.dict()]}
 
 
 def upload_to_store(temporary_uploads):
diff --git a/backend/data_import/datasets.py b/backend/data_import/datasets.py
index 76e8b3e2..e1512dd5 100644
--- a/backend/data_import/datasets.py
+++ b/backend/data_import/datasets.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from typing import List, Type
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 
 from .models import DummyLabelType
-from .pipeline.catalog import RELATION_EXTRACTION, TextFile, TextLine
+from .pipeline.catalog import RELATION_EXTRACTION, Format
 from .pipeline.data import BaseData, BinaryData, TextData
 from .pipeline.exceptions import FileParseException
 from .pipeline.factories import create_parser
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ class CategoryAndSpanDataset(Dataset):
         return self.reader.errors + self.example_maker.errors + self.category_maker.errors + self.span_maker.errors
 
 
-def select_dataset(project: Project, task: str, file_format: str) -> Type[Dataset]:
+def select_dataset(project: Project, task: str, file_format: Format) -> Type[Dataset]:
     mapping = {
         DOCUMENT_CLASSIFICATION: TextClassificationDataset,
         SEQUENCE_LABELING: SequenceLabelingDataset,
@@ -222,12 +222,12 @@ def select_dataset(project: Project, task: str, file_format: str) -> Type[Datase
     }
     if task not in mapping:
         task = project.project_type
-    if project.is_text_project and file_format in [TextLine.name, TextFile.name]:
+    if project.is_text_project and file_format.is_plain_text():
         return PlainDataset
     return mapping[task]
 
 
-def load_dataset(task: str, file_format: str, data_files: List[FileName], project: Project, **kwargs) -> Dataset:
+def load_dataset(task: str, file_format: Format, data_files: List[FileName], project: Project, **kwargs) -> Dataset:
     parser = create_parser(file_format, **kwargs)
     reader = Reader(data_files, parser)
     dataset_class = select_dataset(project, task, file_format)
diff --git a/backend/data_import/pipeline/catalog.py b/backend/data_import/pipeline/catalog.py
index ba1330ef..1feb24dc 100644
--- a/backend/data_import/pipeline/catalog.py
+++ b/backend/data_import/pipeline/catalog.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ from typing import Dict, List, Type
 from pydantic import BaseModel
 from typing_extensions import Literal
 
+from .exceptions import FileFormatException
 from projects.models import (
     DOCUMENT_CLASSIFICATION,
     IMAGE_CLASSIFICATION,
@@ -140,6 +141,13 @@ class Format:
     def dict(cls):
         return {"name": cls.name, "accept_types": cls.accept_types}
 
+    def validate_mime(self, mime: str):
+        return True
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def is_plain_text():
+        return False
+
 
 class CSV(Format):
     name = "CSV"
@@ -170,11 +178,19 @@ class TextFile(Format):
     name = "TextFile"
     accept_types = "text/*"
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def is_plain_text():
+        return True
+
 
 class TextLine(Format):
     name = "TextLine"
     accept_types = "text/*"
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def is_plain_text():
+        return True
+
 
 class CoNLL(Format):
     name = "CoNLL"
@@ -185,11 +201,17 @@ class ImageFile(Format):
     name = "ImageFile"
     accept_types = "image/png, image/jpeg, image/bmp, image/gif"
 
+    def validate_mime(self, mime: str):
+        return mime in self.accept_types
+
 
 class AudioFile(Format):
     name = "AudioFile"
     accept_types = "audio/ogg, audio/aac, audio/mpeg, audio/wav"
 
+    def validate_mime(self, mime: str):
+        return mime in self.accept_types
+
 
 class ArgColumn(BaseModel):
     encoding: encodings = "utf_8"
@@ -239,6 +261,13 @@ class Option:
         }
 
 
+def create_file_format(file_format: str) -> Format:
+    for format_class in Format.__subclasses__():
+        if format_class.name == file_format:
+            return format_class()
+    raise FileFormatException(file_format)
+
+
 class Options:
     options: Dict[str, List] = defaultdict(list)
 
diff --git a/backend/data_import/pipeline/exceptions.py b/backend/data_import/pipeline/exceptions.py
index efab9ca7..93fd157c 100644
--- a/backend/data_import/pipeline/exceptions.py
+++ b/backend/data_import/pipeline/exceptions.py
@@ -42,3 +42,12 @@ class FileTypeException(FileImportException):
 
     def dict(self):
         return {"filename": self.filename, "line": -1, "message": str(self)}
+
+
+class FileFormatException(FileImportException):
+    def __init__(self, file_format: str):
+        self.file_format = file_format
+
+    def dict(self):
+        message = f"Unknown file format: {self.file_format}"
+        return {"message": message}
diff --git a/backend/data_import/pipeline/factories.py b/backend/data_import/pipeline/factories.py
index 05d8b0a1..b9a68bac 100644
--- a/backend/data_import/pipeline/factories.py
+++ b/backend/data_import/pipeline/factories.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ from .catalog import (
     CoNLL,
     Excel,
     FastText,
+    Format,
     ImageFile,
     TextFile,
     TextLine,
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ from .parsers import (
 )
 
 
-def create_parser(file_format: str, **kwargs):
+def create_parser(file_format: Format, **kwargs):
     mapping = {
         TextFile.name: TextFileParser,
         TextLine.name: LineParser,
@@ -36,6 +37,4 @@ def create_parser(file_format: str, **kwargs):
         ImageFile.name: PlainParser,
         AudioFile.name: PlainParser,
     }
-    if file_format not in mapping:
-        raise ValueError(f"Invalid format: {file_format}")
-    return mapping[file_format](**kwargs)
+    return mapping[file_format.name](**kwargs)
diff --git a/backend/data_import/tests/test_tasks.py b/backend/data_import/tests/test_tasks.py
index 888a0bd8..d6696916 100644
--- a/backend/data_import/tests/test_tasks.py
+++ b/backend/data_import/tests/test_tasks.py
@@ -68,6 +68,16 @@ class TestMaxFileSize(TestImportData):
         self.assertIn("maximum file size", response["error"][0]["message"])
 
 
+class TestInvalidFileFormat(TestImportData):
+    task = DOCUMENT_CLASSIFICATION
+
+    def test_invalid_file_format(self):
+        filename = "text_classification/example.csv"
+        file_format = "INVALID_FORMAT"
+        response = self.import_dataset(filename, file_format, self.task)
+        self.assertEqual(len(response["error"]), 1)
+
+
 class TestImportClassificationData(TestImportData):
     task = DOCUMENT_CLASSIFICATION