diff --git a/cmd/lemcmd/score.go b/cmd/lemcmd/score.go
index 67ea14e..63cf0aa 100644
--- a/cmd/lemcmd/score.go
+++ b/cmd/lemcmd/score.go
@@ -14,16 +14,17 @@ func addScoreCommands(root *cli.Command) {
 	scoreGroup.AddCommand(passthrough("probe", "Generate responses and score them", lem.RunProbe))
 
 	// compare has a different signature — it takes two named args, not []string.
-	compareCmd := cli.NewCommand("compare", "Compare two score files", "", nil)
 	var compareOld, compareNew string
+	compareCmd := cli.NewCommand("compare", "Compare two score files", "",
+		func(cmd *cli.Command, args []string) error {
+			if compareOld == "" || compareNew == "" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("--old and --new are required")
+			}
+			return lem.RunCompare(compareOld, compareNew)
+		},
+	)
 	cli.StringFlag(compareCmd, &compareOld, "old", "", "", "Old score file (required)")
 	cli.StringFlag(compareCmd, &compareNew, "new", "", "", "New score file (required)")
-	compareCmd.RunE = func(cmd *cli.Command, args []string) error {
-		if compareOld == "" || compareNew == "" {
-			return fmt.Errorf("--old and --new are required")
-		}
-		return lem.RunCompare(compareOld, compareNew)
-	}
 	scoreGroup.AddCommand(compareCmd)
 
 	scoreGroup.AddCommand(passthrough("tier", "Score expansion responses (heuristic/judge tiers)", lem.RunTierScore))
diff --git a/pkg/lem/score_cmd.go b/pkg/lem/score_cmd.go
index 9e2fb5e..b87587a 100644
--- a/pkg/lem/score_cmd.go
+++ b/pkg/lem/score_cmd.go
@@ -78,7 +78,10 @@ func RunScore(args []string) {
 
 	if *resume {
 		if _, statErr := os.Stat(*output); statErr == nil {
-			existing, _ := ReadScorerOutput(*output)
+			existing, readErr := ReadScorerOutput(*output)
+			if readErr != nil {
+				log.Fatalf("re-read scores for merge: %v", readErr)
+			}
 			for model, scores := range existing.PerPrompt {
 				perPrompt[model] = append(scores, perPrompt[model]...)
 			}