diff --git a/internal/scan/scan.go b/internal/scan/scan.go
index d4b8263f..d386bed4 100644
--- a/internal/scan/scan.go
+++ b/internal/scan/scan.go
@@ -53,12 +53,12 @@ func RunOperatorScan(ctx context.Context, cfg *types.Config) []*types.ScanResult
 	return []*types.ScanResults{validateTag(ctx, tag, cfg)}
 }
 
-func RunPayloadScan(ctx context.Context, cfg *types.Config) []*types.ScanResults {
+func RunPayloadScan(ctx context.Context, cfg *types.Config) ([]*types.ScanResults, error) {
 	var runs []*types.ScanResults
 
 	payload, err := GetPayload(cfg)
 	if err != nil {
-		klog.Fatalf("could not get pods from payload: %v", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not get pods from payload: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	parallelism := cfg.Parallelism
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ func RunPayloadScan(ctx context.Context, cfg *types.Config) []*types.ScanResults
 	close(rx)
 	wgRx.Wait()
 
-	return runs
+	return runs, nil
 }
 
 func scan(ctx context.Context, cfg *types.Config, tx <-chan *Request, rx chan<- *Result) {
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index ccf3df77..d06bc536 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -174,8 +174,9 @@ func main() {
 			}
 			config.PrintExceptions, _ = cmd.Flags().GetBool("print-exceptions")
 			config.UseRPMScan, _ = cmd.Flags().GetBool("rpm-scan")
-			results = scan.RunPayloadScan(ctx, &config)
-			return nil
+			var err error
+			results, err = scan.RunPayloadScan(ctx, &config)
+			return err
 		},
 	}
 	scanPayload.Flags().StringP("url", "u", "", "payload url")
@@ -291,7 +292,8 @@ func main() {
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().AddGoFlagSet(klogFlags)
 
 	if err := rootCmd.Execute(); err != nil {
-		klog.Fatalf("Error: %v\n", err)
+		klog.ErrorS(err, "command failed")
+		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 }