diff --git a/cmd/manager/cel-scanner.go b/cmd/manager/cel-scanner.go
index bc7a856f73..92a2ce7dc2 100644
--- a/cmd/manager/cel-scanner.go
+++ b/cmd/manager/cel-scanner.go
@@ -450,7 +450,10 @@ func (c *CelScanner) runPlatformScan() {
 
 	// Save the scan result
 	outputFilePath := filepath.Join(c.celConfig.CheckResultDir, "result.json")
-	saveScanResult(outputFilePath, evalResultList)
+	if err := saveScanResult(outputFilePath, evalResultList); err != nil {
+		cmdLog.Error(err, "Failed to save scan results", "path", outputFilePath)
+		os.Exit(CelExitCodeError)
+	}
 
 	// Check if we need to generate ComplianceCheckResult objects
 	if c.celConfig.CCRGeneration {
@@ -808,18 +811,16 @@ func (c *CelScanner) getVariablesForTailoredProfile(tp *cmpv1alpha1.TailoredProf
 	return setVars, nil
 }
 
-// saveScanResult saves the scan results to a JSON file with proper indentation
-func saveScanResult(filePath string, resultsList []*cmpv1alpha1.ComplianceCheckResult) {
+func saveScanResult(filePath string, resultsList []*cmpv1alpha1.ComplianceCheckResult) error {
 	file, err := os.Create(filePath)
 	if err != nil {
-		panic(fmt.Sprintf("Failed to create result file %s: %v", filePath, err))
+		return fmt.Errorf("creating result file %s: %w", filePath, err)
 	}
 	defer file.Close()
-	// Serialize the results list to JSON
 	encoder := json.NewEncoder(file)
 	encoder.SetIndent("", "  ")
-	err = encoder.Encode(resultsList)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(fmt.Sprintf("Failed to encode results list to JSON: %v", err))
+	if err := encoder.Encode(resultsList); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("encoding results to JSON: %w", err)
 	}
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/apis/compliance/v1alpha1/compliancescan_types.go b/pkg/apis/compliance/v1alpha1/compliancescan_types.go
index e1d6531307..3af31f06f7 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/compliance/v1alpha1/compliancescan_types.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/compliance/v1alpha1/compliancescan_types.go
@@ -392,24 +392,12 @@ func (cs *ComplianceScan) GetScannerTypeIfValid() (ScannerType, error) {
 	return "", ErrUnkownScanerType
 }
 
-// GetScanType get's the scan type for a scan
-func (cs *ComplianceScan) GetScanType() ComplianceScanType {
-	scantype, err := cs.GetScanTypeIfValid()
-	if err != nil {
-		// This shouldn't happen
-		panic(err)
-	}
-	return scantype
+func (cs *ComplianceScan) GetScanType() (ComplianceScanType, error) {
+	return cs.GetScanTypeIfValid()
 }
 
-// GetScannerType will get the scanner type for a scan
-func (cs *ComplianceScan) GetScannerType() ScannerType {
-	scannertype, err := cs.GetScannerTypeIfValid()
-	if err != nil {
-		// This shouldn't happen
-		panic(err)
-	}
-	return scannertype
+func (cs *ComplianceScan) GetScannerType() (ScannerType, error) {
+	return cs.GetScannerTypeIfValid()
 }
 
 // Returns whether remediation enforcement is off or not
diff --git a/pkg/controller/compliancescan/scantype.go b/pkg/controller/compliancescan/scantype.go
index f04fbb1603..402c345490 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/compliancescan/scantype.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/compliancescan/scantype.go
@@ -82,7 +82,12 @@ func (nh *nodeScanTypeHandler) getScan() *compv1alpha1.ComplianceScan {
 func (nh *nodeScanTypeHandler) getTargetNodes() ([]corev1.Node, error) {
 	var nodes corev1.NodeList
 
-	switch nh.scan.GetScanType() {
+	scanType, err := nh.scan.GetScanType()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("getting scan type: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	switch scanType {
 	case compv1alpha1.ScanTypePlatform:
 		return nodes.Items, nil // Nodes are only relevant to the node scan type. Return the empty node list otherwise.
 	case compv1alpha1.ScanTypeNode: