diff --git a/app/cli/cmd/policy_develop_eval.go b/app/cli/cmd/policy_develop_eval.go
index 4e5409942..1da7dd1ba 100644
--- a/app/cli/cmd/policy_develop_eval.go
+++ b/app/cli/cmd/policy_develop_eval.go
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ evaluates the policy against the provided material or attestation.`,
 
 			result, err := policyEval.Run()
 			if err != nil {
-				return newGracefulError(err)
+				return err
 			}
 
 			return encodeJSON(result)
diff --git a/app/cli/internal/policydevel/eval.go b/app/cli/internal/policydevel/eval.go
index eb7393888..ccb997347 100644
--- a/app/cli/internal/policydevel/eval.go
+++ b/app/cli/internal/policydevel/eval.go
@@ -48,13 +48,13 @@ func Evaluate(opts *EvalOptions, logger zerolog.Logger) ([]*EvalResult, error) {
 	// 1. Create crafting schema
 	schema, err := createCraftingSchema(opts.PolicyPath, opts.Inputs)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("creating crafting schema: %w", err)
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	// 2. Craft material with annotations
 	material, err := craftMaterial(opts.MaterialPath, opts.MaterialKind, &logger)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("material crafting: %w", err)
+		return nil, err
 	}
 	material.Annotations = opts.Annotations
 
@@ -95,14 +95,7 @@ func verifyMaterial(schema *v1.CraftingSchema, material *v12.Attestation_Materia
 
 	// no evaluations were returned
 	if len(policyEvs) == 0 {
-		return []*EvalResult{
-			{
-				Ignored:     true,
-				Skipped:     false,
-				SkipReasons: []string{},
-				Violations:  []string{},
-			},
-		}, nil
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no execution branch matched for kind %s", material.MaterialType.String())
 	}
 
 	results := make([]*EvalResult, 0, len(policyEvs))
diff --git a/app/cli/internal/policydevel/eval_test.go b/app/cli/internal/policydevel/eval_test.go
index 140144374..587d63253 100644
--- a/app/cli/internal/policydevel/eval_test.go
+++ b/app/cli/internal/policydevel/eval_test.go
@@ -41,9 +41,8 @@ func TestEvaluate(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 
 		results, err := Evaluate(opts, logger)
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-		require.NotEmpty(t, results)
-		assert.NotNil(t, results[0])
+		require.Error(t, err)
+		assert.Empty(t, results)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("evaluation with auto-detected SBOM CYCLONEDX kind", func(t *testing.T) {