diff --git a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
index b649d7950dc9..283af29fde68 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
@@ -278,6 +278,7 @@ https://github.com/elastic/beats/compare/v8.8.1\...main[Check the HEAD diff]
 - Update CEL mito extensions to v1.15.0. {pull}40294[40294]
 - Allow cross-region bucket configuration in s3 input. {issue}22161[22161] {pull}40309[40309]
 - Improve logging in Okta Entity Analytics provider. {issue}40106[40106] {pull}40347[40347]
+- Improve error quality when CEL program does not correctly return an events array. {pull}[]
 
 *Auditbeat*
 
diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/input/cel/input.go b/x-pack/filebeat/input/cel/input.go
index 99d5cfad7889..2096383de392 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/input/cel/input.go
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/input/cel/input.go
@@ -366,9 +366,7 @@ func (i input) run(env v2.Context, src *source, cursor map[string]interface{}, p
 
 			e, ok := state["events"]
 			if !ok {
-				log.Error("unexpected missing events array from evaluation")
-				env.UpdateStatus(status.Degraded, "unexpected missing events array from evaluation")
-				isDegraded = true
+				return errors.New("unexpected missing events array from evaluation")
 			}
 			var events []interface{}
 			switch e := e.(type) {