diff --git a/cosmwasm/packages/enclave-ffi-types/cbindgen.toml b/cosmwasm/packages/enclave-ffi-types/cbindgen.toml
index 3d424415f..2b45b887d 100644
--- a/cosmwasm/packages/enclave-ffi-types/cbindgen.toml
+++ b/cosmwasm/packages/enclave-ffi-types/cbindgen.toml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ style = "both"
 include = [
     "UserSpaceBuffer",
     "EnclaveBuffer",
+    "NodeAuthResult",
     "Ctx",
     "InitResult",
     "HandleResult",
diff --git a/cosmwasm/packages/enclave-ffi-types/src/lib.rs b/cosmwasm/packages/enclave-ffi-types/src/lib.rs
index d2a494a16..fb1ad90a1 100644
--- a/cosmwasm/packages/enclave-ffi-types/src/lib.rs
+++ b/cosmwasm/packages/enclave-ffi-types/src/lib.rs
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 mod types;
 
 pub use types::{
-    Ctx, EnclaveBuffer, EnclaveError, HandleResult, InitResult, OcallReturn, QueryResult,
-    UntrustedVmError, UserSpaceBuffer,
+    Ctx, EnclaveBuffer, EnclaveError, HandleResult, InitResult, NodeAuthResult, OcallReturn,
+    QueryResult, UntrustedVmError, UserSpaceBuffer,
 };
 
 pub const ENCRYPTED_SEED_SIZE: usize = 48;
diff --git a/cosmwasm/packages/enclave-ffi-types/src/types.rs b/cosmwasm/packages/enclave-ffi-types/src/types.rs
index ccafa5448..c8e9953a1 100644
--- a/cosmwasm/packages/enclave-ffi-types/src/types.rs
+++ b/cosmwasm/packages/enclave-ffi-types/src/types.rs
@@ -108,6 +108,27 @@ pub enum EnclaveError {
     Unknown,
 }
 
+/// This type represents the possible error conditions that can be encountered in the
+/// enclave while authenticating a new node in the network.
+/// cbindgen:prefix-with-name
+#[repr(C)]
+#[derive(Debug, Display, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum NodeAuthResult {
+    Success,
+    #[display(fmt = "Enclave received invalid inputs")]
+    InvalidInput,
+    #[display(fmt = "The provided certificate was invalid")]
+    InvalidCert,
+    #[display(fmt = "Writing to file system from the enclave failed")]
+    CantWriteToStorage,
+    #[display(fmt = "The public key in the certificate appears to be malformed")]
+    MalformedPublicKey,
+    #[display(fmt = "Encrypting the seed failed")]
+    SeedEncryptionFailed,
+    #[display(fmt = "Enclave panicked :( please file a bug report!")]
+    Panic,
+}
+
 /// This type holds a pointer to a VmError that is boxed on the untrusted side
 // `VmError` is the standard error type for the `cosmwasm-sgx-vm` layer.
 // During an ocall, we call into the original implementation of `db_read`, `db_write`, and `db_remove`.
diff --git a/cosmwasm/packages/sgx-vm/src/attestation.rs b/cosmwasm/packages/sgx-vm/src/attestation.rs
index 9839edeec..c50088c69 100644
--- a/cosmwasm/packages/sgx-vm/src/attestation.rs
+++ b/cosmwasm/packages/sgx-vm/src/attestation.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use log::*;
 use sgx_types::*;
 use sgx_types::{sgx_status_t, SgxResult};
 
-use enclave_ffi_types::ENCRYPTED_SEED_SIZE;
+use enclave_ffi_types::{NodeAuthResult, ENCRYPTED_SEED_SIZE};
 
 use crate::enclave::get_enclave;
 
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ extern "C" {
     ) -> sgx_status_t;
     pub fn ecall_authenticate_new_node(
         eid: sgx_enclave_id_t,
-        retval: *mut sgx_status_t,
+        retval: *mut NodeAuthResult,
         cert: *const u8,
         cert_len: u32,
         seed: &mut [u8; ENCRYPTED_SEED_SIZE],
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ pub extern "C" fn ocall_get_update_info(
     unsafe { sgx_report_attestation_status(platform_blob, enclave_trusted, update_info) }
 }
 
-pub fn create_attestation_report_u() -> SgxResult<sgx_status_t> {
+pub fn create_attestation_report_u() -> SgxResult<()> {
     let enclave = get_enclave()?;
 
     let eid = enclave.geteid();
@@ -137,13 +137,15 @@ pub fn create_attestation_report_u() -> SgxResult<sgx_status_t> {
         return Err(retval);
     }
 
-    Ok(sgx_status_t::SGX_SUCCESS)
+    Ok(())
 }
 
-pub fn untrusted_get_encrypted_seed(cert: &[u8]) -> SgxResult<[u8; ENCRYPTED_SEED_SIZE]> {
+pub fn untrusted_get_encrypted_seed(
+    cert: &[u8],
+) -> SgxResult<Result<[u8; ENCRYPTED_SEED_SIZE], NodeAuthResult>> {
     let enclave = get_enclave()?;
     let eid = enclave.geteid();
-    let mut retval = sgx_status_t::SGX_SUCCESS;
+    let mut retval = NodeAuthResult::Success;
     let mut seed = [0u8; ENCRYPTED_SEED_SIZE];
     let status = unsafe {
         ecall_authenticate_new_node(
@@ -159,8 +161,8 @@ pub fn untrusted_get_encrypted_seed(cert: &[u8]) -> SgxResult<[u8; ENCRYPTED_SEE
         return Err(status);
     }
 
-    if retval != sgx_status_t::SGX_SUCCESS {
-        return Err(retval);
+    if retval != NodeAuthResult::Success {
+        return Ok(Err(retval));
     }
 
     if seed.is_empty() {
@@ -168,7 +170,7 @@ pub fn untrusted_get_encrypted_seed(cert: &[u8]) -> SgxResult<[u8; ENCRYPTED_SEE
         return Err(sgx_status_t::SGX_ERROR_UNEXPECTED);
     }
 
-    Ok(seed)
+    Ok(Ok(seed))
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
diff --git a/cosmwasm/packages/sgx-vm/src/seed.rs b/cosmwasm/packages/sgx-vm/src/seed.rs
index 9d75702fd..07490e545 100644
--- a/cosmwasm/packages/sgx-vm/src/seed.rs
+++ b/cosmwasm/packages/sgx-vm/src/seed.rs
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ extern "C" {
     ) -> sgx_status_t;
 }
 
-pub fn untrusted_init_node(master_cert: &[u8], encrypted_seed: &[u8]) -> SgxResult<sgx_status_t> {
-    debug!("Initializing enclave..");
+pub fn untrusted_init_node(master_cert: &[u8], encrypted_seed: &[u8]) -> SgxResult<()> {
+    info!("Initializing enclave..");
     let enclave = get_enclave()?;
     debug!("Initialized enclave successfully!");
 
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ pub fn untrusted_init_node(master_cert: &[u8], encrypted_seed: &[u8]) -> SgxResu
         return Err(ret);
     }
 
-    Ok(sgx_status_t::SGX_SUCCESS)
+    Ok(())
 }
 
 pub fn untrusted_key_gen() -> SgxResult<[u8; 32]> {
diff --git a/cosmwasm/packages/wasmi-runtime/Enclave.edl b/cosmwasm/packages/wasmi-runtime/Enclave.edl
index 5a8323674..56999e681 100644
--- a/cosmwasm/packages/wasmi-runtime/Enclave.edl
+++ b/cosmwasm/packages/wasmi-runtime/Enclave.edl
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ enclave {
 
         public sgx_status_t ecall_get_attestation_report();
 
-        public sgx_status_t ecall_authenticate_new_node(
+        public NodeAuthResult ecall_authenticate_new_node(
             [in, count=cert_len] const uint8_t* cert,
             uintptr_t cert_len,
             [out, count=48] uint8_t* seed
diff --git a/cosmwasm/packages/wasmi-runtime/src/registration/cert.rs b/cosmwasm/packages/wasmi-runtime/src/registration/cert.rs
index b892456ca..2b368c8b6 100644
--- a/cosmwasm/packages/wasmi-runtime/src/registration/cert.rs
+++ b/cosmwasm/packages/wasmi-runtime/src/registration/cert.rs
@@ -300,10 +300,7 @@ pub fn verify_ra_cert(cert_der: &[u8]) -> SgxResult<Vec<u8>> {
 
     // 2. Verify quote status (mandatory field)
 
-    match verify_quote_status(report.sgx_quote_status) {
-        Ok(_) => (),
-        Err(e) => return Err(e),
-    }
+    verify_quote_status(report.sgx_quote_status)?;
 
     // verify certificate
     match SIGNING_METHOD {
diff --git a/cosmwasm/packages/wasmi-runtime/src/registration/onchain.rs b/cosmwasm/packages/wasmi-runtime/src/registration/onchain.rs
index 3c44bd8fa..e9cdd6417 100644
--- a/cosmwasm/packages/wasmi-runtime/src/registration/onchain.rs
+++ b/cosmwasm/packages/wasmi-runtime/src/registration/onchain.rs
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 /// These functions run on-chain and must be deterministic across all nodes
 ///
 use log::*;
-use sgx_types::{sgx_status_t, SgxResult};
 use std::panic;
 
+use enclave_ffi_types::NodeAuthResult;
+
 use crate::consts::ENCRYPTED_SEED_SIZE;
 use crate::crypto::PUBLIC_KEY_SIZE;
 use crate::storage::write_to_untrusted;
@@ -32,24 +33,22 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn ecall_authenticate_new_node(
     cert: *const u8,
     cert_len: u32,
     seed: &mut [u8; ENCRYPTED_SEED_SIZE],
-) -> sgx_status_t {
+) -> NodeAuthResult {
     if let Err(_e) = validate_mut_ptr(seed.as_mut_ptr(), seed.len()) {
-        return sgx_status_t::SGX_ERROR_UNEXPECTED;
+        return NodeAuthResult::InvalidInput;
     }
-
     if let Err(_e) = validate_const_ptr(cert, cert_len as usize) {
-        return sgx_status_t::SGX_ERROR_UNEXPECTED;
+        return NodeAuthResult::InvalidInput;
     }
     let cert_slice = std::slice::from_raw_parts(cert, cert_len as usize);
 
-    let result = panic::catch_unwind(|| -> SgxResult<Vec<u8>> {
+    let result = panic::catch_unwind(|| -> Result<Vec<u8>, NodeAuthResult> {
         // verify certificate, and return the public key in the extra data of the report
         let pk = verify_ra_cert(cert_slice).map_err(|verification_status| {
             error!("Error in validating certificate: {:?}", verification_status);
-            if let Err(write_status) = write_to_untrusted(cert_slice, "failed_cert.der") {
-                write_status
-            } else {
-                verification_status
+            match write_to_untrusted(cert_slice, "failed_cert.der") {
+                Err(_) => NodeAuthResult::CantWriteToStorage,
+                Ok(_) => NodeAuthResult::InvalidCert,
             }
         })?;
 
@@ -59,7 +58,7 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn ecall_authenticate_new_node(
                 "Got public key from certificate with the wrong size: {:?}",
                 pk.len()
             );
-            return Err(sgx_status_t::SGX_ERROR_UNEXPECTED);
+            return Err(NodeAuthResult::MalformedPublicKey);
         }
 
         let mut target_public_key: [u8; 32] = [0u8; 32];
@@ -69,7 +68,8 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn ecall_authenticate_new_node(
             &target_public_key.to_vec()
         );
 
-        let res: Vec<u8> = encrypt_seed(target_public_key)?;
+        let res: Vec<u8> =
+            encrypt_seed(target_public_key).map_err(|_| NodeAuthResult::SeedEncryptionFailed)?;
 
         Ok(res)
     });
@@ -78,12 +78,12 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn ecall_authenticate_new_node(
         match res {
             Ok(res) => {
                 seed.copy_from_slice(&res);
-                sgx_status_t::SGX_SUCCESS
+                NodeAuthResult::Success
             }
             Err(e) => e,
         }
     } else {
         error!("Enclave call ecall_authenticate_new_node panic!");
-        sgx_status_t::SGX_ERROR_UNEXPECTED
+        NodeAuthResult::Panic
     }
 }
diff --git a/go-cosmwasm/src/error/rust.rs b/go-cosmwasm/src/error/rust.rs
index e95f48b9d..067ee3ed8 100644
--- a/go-cosmwasm/src/error/rust.rs
+++ b/go-cosmwasm/src/error/rust.rs
@@ -35,6 +35,12 @@ pub enum Error {
         #[cfg(feature = "backtraces")]
         backtrace: snafu::Backtrace,
     },
+    #[snafu(display("{}", msg))]
+    GoCwEnclaveError {
+        msg: String,
+        #[cfg(feature = "backtraces")]
+        backtrace: snafu::Backtrace,
+    },
 }
 
 impl Error {
@@ -60,6 +66,13 @@ impl Error {
         .build()
     }
 
+    pub fn enclave_err<S: ToString>(msg: S) -> Self {
+        GoCwEnclaveError {
+            msg: msg.to_string(),
+        }
+        .build()
+    }
+
     pub fn out_of_gas() -> Self {
         OutOfGas {}.build()
     }
diff --git a/go-cosmwasm/src/lib.rs b/go-cosmwasm/src/lib.rs
index 6037c6cdd..5afcb79da 100644
--- a/go-cosmwasm/src/lib.rs
+++ b/go-cosmwasm/src/lib.rs
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ use cosmwasm_sgx_vm::{
 };
 
 use ctor::ctor;
-use log;
 use log::*;
 
 #[ctor]
@@ -54,22 +53,28 @@ pub extern "C" fn get_encrypted_seed(cert: Buffer, err: Option<&mut Buffer>) ->
     debug!("Called get_encrypted_seed");
     let cert_slice = match unsafe { cert.read() } {
         None => {
-            set_error(Error::vm_err("Attestation Certificate is empty"), err);
+            set_error(Error::empty_arg("attestation_cert"), err);
             return Buffer::default();
         }
         Some(r) => r,
     };
-    let result = match untrusted_get_encrypted_seed(cert_slice) {
+    info!("Hello from right before untrusted_get_encrypted_seed");
+    match untrusted_get_encrypted_seed(cert_slice) {
         Err(e) => {
-            set_error(Error::vm_err(e.to_string()), err);
-            return Buffer::default();
+            // An error happened in the SGX sdk.
+            set_error(Error::enclave_err(e.to_string()), err);
+            Buffer::default()
         }
-        Ok(r) => {
+        Ok(Err(e)) => {
+            // An error was returned from the enclave.
+            set_error(Error::enclave_err(e.to_string()), err);
+            Buffer::default()
+        }
+        Ok(Ok(seed)) => {
             clear_error();
-            Buffer::from_vec(r.to_vec())
+            Buffer::from_vec(seed.to_vec())
         }
-    };
-    return result;
+    }
 }
 
 #[no_mangle]
@@ -77,7 +82,7 @@ pub extern "C" fn init_bootstrap(err: Option<&mut Buffer>) -> Buffer {
     info!("Hello from right before init_bootstrap");
     match untrusted_init_bootstrap() {
         Err(e) => {
-            set_error(Error::vm_err(e.to_string()), err);
+            set_error(Error::enclave_err(e.to_string()), err);
             Buffer::default()
         }
         Ok(r) => {
@@ -95,37 +100,35 @@ pub extern "C" fn init_node(
 ) -> bool {
     let pk_slice = match unsafe { master_cert.read() } {
         None => {
-            set_error(Error::vm_err("Public key is empty"), err);
+            set_error(Error::empty_arg("master_cert"), err);
             return false;
         }
         Some(r) => r,
     };
     let encrypted_seed_slice = match unsafe { encrypted_seed.read() } {
         None => {
-            set_error(Error::vm_err("Encrypted seed is empty"), err);
+            set_error(Error::empty_arg("encrypted_seed"), err);
             return false;
         }
         Some(r) => r,
     };
 
-    let result = match untrusted_init_node(pk_slice, encrypted_seed_slice) {
+    match untrusted_init_node(pk_slice, encrypted_seed_slice) {
         Ok(_) => {
             clear_error();
             true
         }
         Err(e) => {
-            set_error(Error::vm_err(e.to_string()), err);
+            set_error(Error::enclave_err(e.to_string()), err);
             false
         }
-    };
-
-    result
+    }
 }
 
 #[no_mangle]
 pub extern "C" fn create_attestation_report(err: Option<&mut Buffer>) -> bool {
     if let Err(status) = create_attestation_report_u() {
-        set_error(Error::vm_err(status.to_string()), err);
+        set_error(Error::enclave_err(status.to_string()), err);
         return false;
     }
     clear_error();
@@ -465,7 +468,7 @@ fn do_query(
 pub extern "C" fn key_gen(err: Option<&mut Buffer>) -> Buffer {
     match untrusted_key_gen() {
         Err(e) => {
-            set_error(Error::vm_err(e.to_string()), err);
+            set_error(Error::enclave_err(e.to_string()), err);
             Buffer::default()
         }
         Ok(r) => {