diff --git a/tests/basic_commands_test.go b/tests/basic_commands_test.go
index 0364241b..1af2d6aa 100644
--- a/tests/basic_commands_test.go
+++ b/tests/basic_commands_test.go
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-// basic_commands_test.go
 package tests
 
 import (
@@ -11,7 +10,12 @@ import (
 func TestNormalExecution(t *testing.T) {
 	fpath := "../elfparser/ElfTestSuite/y_0000_basic_get.l2"
 	cmdArgs := []string{fpath}
-	output := testutils.RunL2CommandAndGetOutput(t, cmdArgs...)
+
+	output, err := testutils.RunL2CommandAndGetOutput(cmdArgs...)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("Error running L2 command: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
 
 	expectedOutputPart := "\"url\": \"http://httpbin.org/get\""
 	if !strings.Contains(output, expectedOutputPart) {
diff --git a/tests/env_command_test.go b/tests/env_command_test.go
index 65dddf33..10b041ea 100644
--- a/tests/env_command_test.go
+++ b/tests/env_command_test.go
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-// env_command_test.go
 package tests
 
 import (
@@ -7,10 +6,18 @@ import (
 	testutils "github.com/HexmosTech/lama2/tests/utils"
 )
 
+func runL2Command(t *testing.T, cmdArgs ...string) map[string]testutils.EnvData {
+	envMap, err := testutils.RunL2CommandAndParseJSON(cmdArgs...)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Error running L2 command: %v", err)
+	}
+	return envMap
+}
+
 func TestL2EnvCommand(t *testing.T) {
 	fpath := "../elfparser/ElfTestSuite/root_variable_override/api/y_0020_root_override.l2"
 	cmdArgs := []string{"-e=", fpath}
-	envMap := testutils.RunL2CommandAndParseJSON(t, cmdArgs...)
+	envMap := runL2Command(t, cmdArgs...)
 
 	// Check the "AHOST" key is present
 	checkAHost(t, envMap)
@@ -22,7 +29,7 @@ func TestL2EnvCommand(t *testing.T) {
 func TestL2RelevantEnvForAString(t *testing.T) {
 	fpath := "../elfparser/ElfTestSuite/root_variable_override/api/y_0020_root_override.l2"
 	cmdArgs := []string{"-e=A", fpath}
-	envMap := testutils.RunL2CommandAndParseJSON(t, cmdArgs...)
+	envMap := runL2Command(t, cmdArgs...)
 
 	// Check the "AHOST" key is present
 	checkAHost(t, envMap)
@@ -34,7 +41,7 @@ func TestL2RelevantEnvForAString(t *testing.T) {
 func TestL2RelevantEnvForBString(t *testing.T) {
 	fpath := "../elfparser/ElfTestSuite/root_variable_override/api/y_0020_root_override.l2"
 	cmdArgs := []string{"-e=B", fpath}
-	envMap := testutils.RunL2CommandAndParseJSON(t, cmdArgs...)
+	envMap := runL2Command(t, cmdArgs...)
 
 	// Check the "BHOST" key is present
 	checkBHost(t, envMap)
@@ -46,7 +53,7 @@ func TestL2RelevantEnvForBString(t *testing.T) {
 func TestL2EnvCommandVerbose(t *testing.T) {
 	fpath := "../elfparser/ElfTestSuite/root_variable_override/api/y_0020_root_override.l2"
 	cmdArgs := []string{"-e=", "-v", fpath}
-	envMap := testutils.RunL2CommandAndParseJSON(t, cmdArgs...)
+	envMap := runL2Command(t, cmdArgs...)
 
 	// Check the "AHOST" key is present
 	checkAHost(t, envMap)
@@ -58,7 +65,7 @@ func TestL2EnvCommandVerbose(t *testing.T) {
 func TestL2EnvWithoutL2config(t *testing.T) {
 	fpath := "../elfparser/ElfTestSuite/no_l2config/api/y_0021_no_l2config.l2"
 	cmdArgs := []string{"-e=", fpath}
-	envMap := testutils.RunL2CommandAndParseJSON(t, cmdArgs...)
+	envMap := runL2Command(t, cmdArgs...)
 
 	// Check the "AHOST" key is present
 	checkAHost(t, envMap)
@@ -67,7 +74,7 @@ func TestL2EnvWithoutL2config(t *testing.T) {
 func TestL2EnvWithoutL2env(t *testing.T) {
 	fpath := "../elfparser/ElfTestSuite/no_l2env/api/y_0022_no_l2env.l2"
 	cmdArgs := []string{"-e=", fpath}
-	envMap := testutils.RunL2CommandAndParseJSON(t, cmdArgs...)
+	envMap := runL2Command(t, cmdArgs...)
 
 	// Check the "BHOST" key is present
 	checkBHost(t, envMap)
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_utils.go b/tests/utils/test_utils.go
index 94db4f7d..65607390 100644
--- a/tests/utils/test_utils.go
+++ b/tests/utils/test_utils.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
-	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 )
@@ -16,85 +15,65 @@ type EnvData struct {
 	Val string `json:"val"`
 }
 
-func RunL2CommandAndGetOutput(t *testing.T, cmdArgs ...string) string {
+func checkL2BinaryExists(l2BinPath string) error {
+	if _, err := os.Stat(l2BinPath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("l2 binary not found in the build folder %s, please change the path", l2BinPath)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
 
-	// Get the full path to the l2 binary
+func getL2BinaryPath() (string, error) {
 	l2BinPath := "../build/l2"
-
-	// Check if the l2 binary file exists
-	if err := checkL2BinaryExists(l2BinPath); err != nil {
-		t.Error(err)
-		return ""
+	err := checkL2BinaryExists(l2BinPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
 	}
+	return l2BinPath, nil
+}
 
-	// Code to run the l2 command
-	cmd := exec.Command(l2BinPath, cmdArgs...)
+func runCommand(binPath string, cmdArgs ...string) (string, error) {
+	cmd := exec.Command(binPath, cmdArgs...)
 
-	var stdout bytes.Buffer
+	var stdout, stderr bytes.Buffer
 	cmd.Stdout = &stdout
-
-	var stderr bytes.Buffer
 	cmd.Stderr = &stderr
 
-	// Execute the command
 	err := cmd.Run()
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Error().Str("Error", stderr.String()).Msg("Error running l2 command")
-		t.Errorf("Error running l2 command: %v\n", err)
-		return ""
+		log.Error().Str("Error", stderr.String()).Msg("Error running command")
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("error running command: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	// Retrieve the captured stdout
-	stdoutOutput := stdout.String()
-	log.Info().Str("Test env_command", stdoutOutput).Msg("output from command")
-	return stdoutOutput
+	output := stdout.String()
+	log.Debug().Str("Test env_command", output).Msg("Output from command")
+	return output, nil
 }
 
-func RunL2CommandAndParseJSON(t *testing.T, cmdArgs ...string) map[string]EnvData {
-	// Get the full path to the l2 binary
-	l2BinPath := "../build/l2"
-
-	// Check if the l2 binary file exists
-	if err := checkL2BinaryExists(l2BinPath); err != nil {
-		t.Error(err)
-		return make(map[string]EnvData)
+func RunL2CommandAndGetOutput(cmdArgs ...string) (string, error) {
+	l2BinPath, err := getL2BinaryPath()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
 	}
 
-	// Your existing code to run the l2 command and parse JSON
-	cmd := exec.Command(l2BinPath, cmdArgs...)
-
-	var stdout bytes.Buffer
-	cmd.Stdout = &stdout
+	return runCommand(l2BinPath, cmdArgs...)
+}
 
-	// Execute the command
-	err := cmd.Run()
+func RunL2CommandAndParseJSON(cmdArgs ...string) (map[string]EnvData, error) {
+	l2BinPath, err := getL2BinaryPath()
 	if err != nil {
-		// Handle the error if needed
-		t.Errorf("Error running l2 command: %v\n", err)
-		return make(map[string]EnvData)
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	// Retrieve the captured stdout
-	stdoutOutput := stdout.String()
-
-	log.Debug().Str("Test env_command", stdoutOutput).Msg("output from command")
-
-	// Convert the stdoutOutput string to []byte slice
-	outputBytes := []byte(stdoutOutput)
+	output, err := runCommand(l2BinPath, cmdArgs...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 
 	envMap := make(map[string]EnvData)
-	err = json.Unmarshal(outputBytes, &envMap)
+	err = json.Unmarshal([]byte(output), &envMap)
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Error unmarshaling JSON env: %v\nOutput:\n%s", err, stdoutOutput)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Error unmarshaling JSON env: %v\nOutput:\n%s", err, output)
 	}
 
-	return envMap
-}
-
-func checkL2BinaryExists(l2BinPath string) error {
-	// Check if the l2 binary file exists
-	if _, err := os.Stat(l2BinPath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
-		return fmt.Errorf("l2 binary not found in the build folder %s, please change the path", l2BinPath)
-	}
-	return nil
+	return envMap, nil
 }