diff --git a/pkg/vars/variables.go b/pkg/vars/variables.go
index c8f785c9..6d8eaf3e 100644
--- a/pkg/vars/variables.go
+++ b/pkg/vars/variables.go
@@ -262,6 +262,12 @@ func (v *Variables) ResolveQuery(queryStr string) (val interface{}, ok bool, err
 		return nil, false, nil
 	}
 
+	// gojq reports runtime evaluation errors as values of type error, so a
+	// failed query must be surfaced instead of being returned as a result.
+	if queryErr, isErr := val.(error); isErr {
+		return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("error evaluating variable query '%v': %w", queryStr, queryErr)
+	}
+
 	return val, true, nil
 }
 
@@ -296,6 +302,12 @@ func (v *Variables) ConsumeVars(config interface{}, consumeMap map[string]string
 			continue
 		}
 
+		// gojq reports runtime evaluation errors as values of type error, so a
+		// failed query must be surfaced instead of being applied to the config.
+		if queryErr, isErr := val.(error); isErr {
+			return fmt.Errorf("error evaluating variable query '%v': %w", queryStr, queryErr)
+		}
+
 		if v, ok := val.(float64); ok {
 			val = NoScientificFloat64(v)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/vars/variables_jq_test.go b/pkg/vars/variables_jq_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c84e9ceb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/vars/variables_jq_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+package vars_test
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ethpandaops/assertoor/pkg/vars"
+)
+
+// TestResolveQuerySurfacesRuntimeError verifies that a gojq runtime error is returned
+// as an error rather than as a successful value. gojq yields evaluation errors as
+// values of type error with ok=true, so without an explicit check an erroring query
+// (here, adding a number to a string) was reported as a result. In the task `if:`
+// path that meant the condition was silently treated as non-boolean and the task was
+// skipped instead of failing.
+func TestResolveQuerySurfacesRuntimeError(t *testing.T) {
+	scope := vars.NewVariables(nil)
+	scope.SetVar("n", "hello")
+
+	val, ok, err := scope.ResolveQuery(".n + 1")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected an error for an erroring query, got value %v (ok=%v)", val, ok)
+	}
+
+	if _, isErr := val.(error); isErr {
+		t.Fatal("the gojq error value leaked out as the result value")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestResolveQueryValidQuery guards the happy path so the error check does not reject
+// good queries.
+func TestResolveQueryValidQuery(t *testing.T) {
+	scope := vars.NewVariables(nil)
+	scope.SetVar("greeting", "hello")
+
+	val, ok, err := scope.ResolveQuery(".greeting")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if !ok || val != "hello" {
+		t.Fatalf("got (%v, ok=%v), want (\"hello\", true)", val, ok)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestConsumeVarsSurfacesRuntimeError verifies that an erroring configVars query is
+// surfaced as an error rather than writing the error object into the config.
+func TestConsumeVarsSurfacesRuntimeError(t *testing.T) {
+	scope := vars.NewVariables(nil)
+	scope.SetVar("n", "hello")
+
+	var cfg struct {
+		X int `yaml:"x"`
+	}
+
+	if err := scope.ConsumeVars(&cfg, map[string]string{"x": ".n + 1"}); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected an error for an erroring configVars query, got nil")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestConsumeVarsValidQuery guards the happy path.
+func TestConsumeVarsValidQuery(t *testing.T) {
+	scope := vars.NewVariables(nil)
+	scope.SetVar("num", 5)
+
+	var cfg struct {
+		X int `yaml:"x"`
+	}
+
+	if err := scope.ConsumeVars(&cfg, map[string]string{"x": ".num"}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if cfg.X != 5 {
+		t.Fatalf("cfg.X = %d, want 5", cfg.X)
+	}
+}