diff --git a/gittensor/cli/issue_commands/mutations.py b/gittensor/cli/issue_commands/mutations.py
index e63e2fb6..5536f618 100644
--- a/gittensor/cli/issue_commands/mutations.py
+++ b/gittensor/cli/issue_commands/mutations.py
@@ -200,8 +200,8 @@ def issue_register(
             / 'issue_bounty_manager.contract'
         )
         if not contract_metadata.exists():
-            console.print(f'[red]Error: Contract metadata not found at {contract_metadata}[/red]')
-            return
+            print_error(f'Contract metadata not found at {contract_metadata}')
+            raise SystemExit(1)
 
         contract_instance = ContractInstance.create_from_address(
             contract_address=contract_addr,
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ def issue_register(
                 print_error(str(error_info))
 
             console.print(f'[cyan]Transaction Hash:[/cyan] {result.extrinsic_hash}')
-            return
+            raise SystemExit(1)
 
         print_success('Issue registered successfully!')
         console.print(f'[cyan]Transaction Hash:[/cyan] {result.extrinsic_hash}')
diff --git a/gittensor/cli/issue_commands/view.py b/gittensor/cli/issue_commands/view.py
index b6bc17d3..954527e5 100644
--- a/gittensor/cli/issue_commands/view.py
+++ b/gittensor/cli/issue_commands/view.py
@@ -322,5 +322,6 @@ def admin_info(network: str, rpc_url: str, contract: str, verbose: bool, as_json
                 handle_exception(as_json=as_json, message=msg, error_type='read_failed')
             console.print(f'[yellow]{msg}[/yellow]')
             console.print('[dim]Try running with --verbose to see debug details.[/dim]')
+            raise SystemExit(1)
     except Exception as e:
         handle_exception(as_json=as_json, message=str(e))
diff --git a/tests/cli/test_cli_helpers.py b/tests/cli/test_cli_helpers.py
index 8790f08f..9aabab59 100644
--- a/tests/cli/test_cli_helpers.py
+++ b/tests/cli/test_cli_helpers.py
@@ -872,6 +872,33 @@ def test_harvest_missing_contract_fails(self, cli_root, runner):
         assert 'Contract address not configured' in result.output
 
 
+class TestCliRegisterLogicalFailures:
+    """Ensure logical failure branches in `issues register` exit non-zero."""
+
+    def test_register_exits_non_zero_when_contract_metadata_missing(self, cli_root, runner):
+        with (
+            patch(
+                'gittensor.cli.issue_commands.mutations._resolve_contract_and_network',
+                return_value=(
+                    '0x1234567890123456789012345678901234567890',
+                    'wss://entrypoint-finney.opentensor.ai:443',
+                    'finney',
+                ),
+            ),
+            patch('gittensor.cli.issue_commands.mutations.validate_repository', return_value=('owner', 'repo')),
+            patch('gittensor.cli.issue_commands.mutations.validate_github_issue', return_value={}),
+            patch('substrateinterface.SubstrateInterface'),
+            patch('bittensor.Wallet'),
+        ):
+            result = runner.invoke(
+                cli_root,
+                ['issues', 'register', '--repo', 'owner/repo', '--issue', '1', '--bounty', '10', '-y'],
+                catch_exceptions=False,
+            )
+        assert result.exit_code != 0
+        assert 'Contract metadata not found' in result.output
+
+
 class TestCliRuntimeExceptions:
     """Ensure runtime/import failures exit non-zero for CLI commands."""
 
diff --git a/tests/cli/test_cli_json_error_output.py b/tests/cli/test_cli_json_error_output.py
index 91aa8e5e..a1d6e765 100644
--- a/tests/cli/test_cli_json_error_output.py
+++ b/tests/cli/test_cli_json_error_output.py
@@ -66,3 +66,19 @@ def test_admin_info_emits_json_on_soft_read_failure(cli_root, runner):
     payload = json.loads(result.output)
     assert payload['success'] is False
     assert payload['error']['type'] == 'read_failed'
+
+
+def test_admin_info_human_mode_exits_non_zero_on_soft_read_failure(cli_root, runner):
+    """`admin info` (human mode) must exit non-zero when packed storage read returns None."""
+    with (
+        patch(
+            'gittensor.cli.issue_commands.view._resolve_contract_and_network',
+            return_value=('5Fakeaddr', 'ws://x', 'test'),
+        ),
+        patch('substrateinterface.SubstrateInterface', return_value=object()),
+        patch('gittensor.cli.issue_commands.view._read_contract_packed_storage', return_value=None),
+    ):
+        result = runner.invoke(cli_root, ['admin', 'info'], catch_exceptions=False)
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 1
+    assert 'Could not read contract configuration' in result.output