diff --git a/src/Criteria/NewsCriteriaBuilder.php b/src/Criteria/NewsCriteriaBuilder.php
index f3e1d2b..2409df2 100644
--- a/src/Criteria/NewsCriteriaBuilder.php
+++ b/src/Criteria/NewsCriteriaBuilder.php
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 namespace Codefog\NewsCategoriesBundle\Criteria;
 
 use Codefog\HasteBundle\Model\DcaRelationsModel;
-use Codefog\NewsCategoriesBundle\Exception\CategoryFilteringNotAppliedException;
 use Codefog\NewsCategoriesBundle\Exception\CategoryNotFoundException;
 use Codefog\NewsCategoriesBundle\Exception\NoNewsException;
 use Codefog\NewsCategoriesBundle\FrontendModule\CumulativeFilterModule;
@@ -67,8 +66,6 @@ public function getCriteriaForArchiveModule(array $archives, int $begin, int $en
             $this->setRegularListCriteria($criteria, $module);
         } catch (NoNewsException) {
             return null;
-        } catch (CategoryFilteringNotAppliedException $e) {
-            // noop
         }
 
         return $criteria;
@@ -77,7 +74,7 @@ public function getCriteriaForArchiveModule(array $archives, int $begin, int $en
     /**
      * Get the criteria for list module.
      */
-    public function getCriteriaForListModule(array $archives, bool|null $featured, Module $module, bool $throwOnFilteringNotApplied = false): NewsCriteria|null
+    public function getCriteriaForListModule(array $archives, bool|null $featured, Module $module): NewsCriteria|null
     {
         $criteria = new NewsCriteria($this->framework, $this->tokenChecker);
 
@@ -94,14 +91,10 @@ public function getCriteriaForListModule(array $archives, bool|null $featured, M
                 $this->setRelatedListCriteria($criteria, $module);
             } else {
                 // Set the regular list criteria
-                $this->setRegularListCriteria($criteria, $module, $throwOnFilteringNotApplied);
+                $this->setRegularListCriteria($criteria, $module);
             }
         } catch (NoNewsException) {
             return null;
-        } catch (CategoryFilteringNotAppliedException $e) {
-            if ($throwOnFilteringNotApplied) {
-                throw $e;
-            }
         }
 
         return $criteria;
@@ -123,8 +116,6 @@ public function getCriteriaForMenuModule(array $archives, Module $module): NewsC
             $this->setRegularListCriteria($criteria, $module);
         } catch (NoNewsException) {
             return null;
-        } catch (CategoryFilteringNotAppliedException $e) {
-            // noop
         }
 
         return $criteria;
@@ -138,12 +129,9 @@ public function getCriteriaForMenuModule(array $archives, Module $module): NewsC
      */
     private function setRegularListCriteria(NewsCriteria $criteria, Module $module): void
     {
-        $filteringApplied = false;
-
         // Filter by default categories
         if (!empty($default = StringUtil::deserialize($module->news_filterDefault, true))) {
             $criteria->setDefaultCategories($default);
-            $filteringApplied = true;
         }
 
         // Filter by multiple active categories
@@ -177,13 +165,13 @@ private function setRegularListCriteria(NewsCriteria $criteria, Module $module):
                         }
                     }
                 }
-
-                $filteringApplied = true;
             }
+
+            return;
         }
+
         // Filter by active category
-        elseif ($module->news_filterCategories) {
-            /** @var Input $input */
+        if ($module->news_filterCategories) {
             $input = $this->framework->getAdapter(Input::class);
             $param = $this->manager->getParameterName();
 
@@ -196,14 +184,8 @@ private function setRegularListCriteria(NewsCriteria $criteria, Module $module):
                 }
 
                 $criteria->setCategory($category->id, (bool) $module->news_filterPreserve, (bool) $module->news_includeSubcategories);
-
-                $filteringApplied = true;
             }
         }
-
-        if (!$filteringApplied) {
-            throw new CategoryFilteringNotAppliedException();
-        }
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/EventListener/NewsListener.php b/src/EventListener/NewsListener.php
index 43552a8..060421e 100644
--- a/src/EventListener/NewsListener.php
+++ b/src/EventListener/NewsListener.php
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 
 use Codefog\NewsCategoriesBundle\Criteria\NewsCriteria;
 use Codefog\NewsCategoriesBundle\Criteria\NewsCriteriaBuilder;
-use Codefog\NewsCategoriesBundle\Exception\CategoryFilteringNotAppliedException;
 use Codefog\NewsCategoriesBundle\Exception\CategoryNotFoundException;
 use Contao\CoreBundle\DependencyInjection\Attribute\AsHook;
 use Contao\CoreBundle\Exception\PageNotFoundException;
@@ -31,12 +30,8 @@ public function __construct(private readonly NewsCriteriaBuilder $searchBuilder)
     #[AsHook('newsListCountItems')]
     public function onNewsListCountItems(array $archives, bool|null $featured, ModuleNewsList $module): int
     {
-        try {
-            if (null === ($criteria = $this->getCriteria($archives, $featured, $module))) {
-                return 0;
-            }
-        } catch (CategoryFilteringNotAppliedException $e) {
-            return false;
+        if (null === ($criteria = $this->getCriteria($archives, $featured, $module))) {
+            return 0;
         }
 
         return NewsModel::countBy($criteria->getColumns(), $criteria->getValues());
@@ -48,12 +43,8 @@ public function onNewsListCountItems(array $archives, bool|null $featured, Modul
     #[AsHook('newsListFetchItems')]
     public function onNewsListFetchItems(array $archives, bool|null $featured, int $limit, int $offset, ModuleNewsList $module): Collection|null
     {
-        try {
-            if (null === ($criteria = $this->getCriteria($archives, $featured, $module))) {
-                return null;
-            }
-        } catch (CategoryFilteringNotAppliedException $e) {
-            return false;
+        if (null === ($criteria = $this->getCriteria($archives, $featured, $module))) {
+            return null;
         }
 
         $criteria->setLimit($limit);
@@ -69,7 +60,7 @@ public function onNewsListFetchItems(array $archives, bool|null $featured, int $
     private function getCriteria(array $archives, bool|null $featured, ModuleNewsList $module): NewsCriteria|null
     {
         try {
-            $criteria = $this->searchBuilder->getCriteriaForListModule($archives, $featured, $module, true);
+            $criteria = $this->searchBuilder->getCriteriaForListModule($archives, $featured, $module);
         } catch (CategoryNotFoundException $e) {
             throw new PageNotFoundException($e->getMessage(), 0, $e);
         }
diff --git a/src/Exception/CategoryFilteringNotAppliedException.php b/src/Exception/CategoryFilteringNotAppliedException.php
deleted file mode 100644
index aec8295..0000000
--- a/src/Exception/CategoryFilteringNotAppliedException.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-/*
- * News Categories bundle for Contao Open Source CMS.
- *
- * @copyright  Copyright (c) 2017, Codefog
- * @author     Codefog <https://codefog.pl>
- * @license    MIT
- */
-
-namespace Codefog\NewsCategoriesBundle\Exception;
-
-class CategoryFilteringNotAppliedException extends \RuntimeException
-{
-}