diff --git a/benchmark/raytune/run_config_dir.py b/benchmark/raytune/run_config_dir.py
index d47dc76e..9b7ecd9f 100755
--- a/benchmark/raytune/run_config_dir.py
+++ b/benchmark/raytune/run_config_dir.py
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ def main(
     print(f"\n{'='*80}")
     print(f"RAY BENCHMARK RUNNER")
     print(f"{'='*80}")
-    
+
     # Initialize Ray
     if not ray.is_initialized():
         ray.init(ignore_reinit_error=True)
@@ -427,13 +427,17 @@ def main(
         pool.submit(lambda actor, task: actor.run_benchmark.remote(task), task)
     
     # Collect results
+    results: List[BenchmarkResult] = []
     while pool.has_next():
         result = pool.get_next()
         result_queue.put(result)
+        results.append(result)
     
     # Wait for progress reporter
     ray.get(progress_task)
     
+    failed_results: List[BenchmarkResult] = [r for r in results if not r.success]
+    
     # Get actor statistics
     print("\nActor statistics:")
     for actor in actors:
@@ -455,6 +459,11 @@ def main(
     
     ray.shutdown()
 
+    if failed_results:
+        for result in failed_results:
+            print(f"[ERROR] Task {result.task_id} failed: {result.error}")
+        raise RuntimeError("One or more benchmark tasks failed. See errors above.")
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     fire.Fire(main)
diff --git a/benchmark/raytune/utility.py b/benchmark/raytune/utility.py
index b84c0d83..a7890d1e 100644
--- a/benchmark/raytune/utility.py
+++ b/benchmark/raytune/utility.py
@@ -165,19 +165,21 @@ def deserialize_sparse_config(data: Optional[Dict]) -> Optional[Any]:
     # Dynamically discover all available masker config classes
     config_map = get_all_masker_config_classes()
     
-    # Reconstruct masker configs with error handling
+    #reconstruct masker configs so we let errors propagate for critical failures
+    #this ennsures missing files or invalid configurations cause immediate failues in stead of silent skipping maskers and producing misleading results
     masker_configs = []
     for masker_data in data.get("masker_configs", []):
         config_class = config_map.get(masker_data["type"])
         if config_class:
-            try:
-                # Create instance with parameters
-                params = masker_data.get("params", {})
-                masker_configs.append(config_class(**params))
-            except Exception as e:
-                logging.warning(f"Failed to create {masker_data['type']}: {e}")
-                continue
-    
-    # Import ResearchAttentionConfig here to avoid circular imports
+            #create instance with parameters so we let ValueError/FileNotFoundError propagate
+            params = masker_data.get("params", {})
+            masker_configs.append(config_class(**params))
+        else:
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Unknown masker config type: {masker_data['type']}. "
+                f"Available types: {list(config_map.keys())}"
+            )
+    
+    #import ResearchAttentionConfig here to avoid circular imports
     from sparse_attention_hub.sparse_attention.research_attention import ResearchAttentionConfig
     return ResearchAttentionConfig(masker_configs=masker_configs) if masker_configs else None