diff --git a/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-prometheus-remote-write/proto/generate-proto-py.sh b/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-prometheus-remote-write/proto/generate-proto-py.sh
index 3cde0bd1ac..5f6129df55 100755
--- a/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-prometheus-remote-write/proto/generate-proto-py.sh
+++ b/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-prometheus-remote-write/proto/generate-proto-py.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+set -e
 
 PROM_VERSION=v2.39.0
 PROTO_VERSION=v1.3.2
diff --git a/scripts/prepare_release.sh b/scripts/prepare_release.sh
index a0bb15f216..66ed3c593e 100755
--- a/scripts/prepare_release.sh
+++ b/scripts/prepare_release.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-#
+set -e
+
 # This script:
 #   1. parses the version number from the branch name
 #   2. updates version.py files to match that version