diff --git a/pkg/cmd/attestation/verification/sigstore.go b/pkg/cmd/attestation/verification/sigstore.go
index 7ab3e083172..60c347ef88d 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/attestation/verification/sigstore.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/attestation/verification/sigstore.go
@@ -223,6 +223,9 @@ func (v *LiveSigstoreVerifier) chooseVerifier(issuer string) (*verify.Verifier,
 		}
 		return v.PublicGood, nil
 	case GitHubIssuerOrg:
+		if v.GitHub == nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("GitHub verifier is not available (initialization may have failed)")
+		}
 		return v.GitHub, nil
 	default:
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("leaf certificate issuer is not recognized")
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/attestation/verification/sigstore_integration_test.go b/pkg/cmd/attestation/verification/sigstore_integration_test.go
index daa948b950c..0ba343898a2 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/attestation/verification/sigstore_integration_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/attestation/verification/sigstore_integration_test.go
@@ -144,6 +144,28 @@ func TestLiveSigstoreVerifier(t *testing.T) {
 		require.Len(t, results, 2)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 	})
+
+	t.Run("returns an error instead of panicking when the GitHub verifier failed to initialize", func(t *testing.T) {
+		githubArtifactPath := test.NormalizeRelativePath("../test/data/github_provenance_demo-0.0.12-py3-none-any.whl")
+		githubArtifact, err := artifact.NewDigestedArtifact(nil, githubArtifactPath, "sha256")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		githubPolicy := buildPolicy(t, *githubArtifact)
+		attestations := getAttestationsFor(t, "../test/data/github_provenance_demo-0.0.12-py3-none-any-bundle.jsonl")
+
+		verifier, err := NewLiveSigstoreVerifier(SigstoreConfig{
+			ExternalHttpClient: http.DefaultClient,
+			Logger:             io.NewTestHandler(),
+			TrustDomain:        "missing-trust-domain",
+			TUFMetadataDir:     o.Some(t.TempDir()),
+		})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		results, verifyErr := verifier.Verify(attestations, githubPolicy)
+		require.Nil(t, results)
+		require.Error(t, verifyErr)
+		require.ErrorContains(t, verifyErr, "failed to choose verifier based on provided bundle issuer")
+		require.ErrorContains(t, verifyErr, "GitHub verifier is not available")
+	})
 }
 
 func publicGoodPolicy(t *testing.T) verify.PolicyBuilder {
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/attestation/verification/sigstore_test.go b/pkg/cmd/attestation/verification/sigstore_test.go
index 1f7c925ba24..ae9a502dc99 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/attestation/verification/sigstore_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/attestation/verification/sigstore_test.go
@@ -27,6 +27,20 @@ func TestChooseVerifierWithNilPublicGood(t *testing.T) {
 	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "public good verifier is not available")
 }
 
+func TestChooseVerifierWithNilGitHub(t *testing.T) {
+	verifier := &LiveSigstoreVerifier{
+		Logger:       io.NewTestHandler(),
+		NoPublicGood: false,
+		PublicGood:   nil,
+		GitHub:       nil, // Simulate failed GitHub verifier initialization
+	}
+
+	_, err := verifier.chooseVerifier(GitHubIssuerOrg)
+
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "GitHub verifier is not available")
+}
+
 // TestChooseVerifierUnrecognizedIssuer tests that an error is returned
 // for unrecognized issuers.
 func TestChooseVerifierUnrecognizedIssuer(t *testing.T) {