diff --git a/x-pack/elastic-agent/pkg/agent/application/application.go b/x-pack/elastic-agent/pkg/agent/application/application.go
index c13157e02f5..c88cca8fc3c 100644
--- a/x-pack/elastic-agent/pkg/agent/application/application.go
+++ b/x-pack/elastic-agent/pkg/agent/application/application.go
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ func createApplication(
 	// not in standalone; both modes require reading the fleet.yml configuration file
 	var store storage.Store
 	store, cfg, err = mergeFleetConfig(rawConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 
 	if IsFleetServerBootstrap(cfg.Fleet) {
 		log.Info("Agent is in Fleet Server bootstrap mode")