diff --git a/source/extensions/common/wasm/wasm.cc b/source/extensions/common/wasm/wasm.cc
index 46f40b69f3f28..837f770478e99 100644
--- a/source/extensions/common/wasm/wasm.cc
+++ b/source/extensions/common/wasm/wasm.cc
@@ -412,6 +412,7 @@ static bool createWasmInternal(const VmConfig& vm_config, const PluginSharedPtr&
       ENVOY_LOG_TO_LOGGER(Envoy::Logger::Registry::getLog(Envoy::Logger::Id::wasm), trace,
                           fmt::format("Failed to load Wasm code (fetching) from {}", source));
       cb(nullptr);
+      return false;
     } else {
       remote_data_provider = std::make_unique<Config::DataSource::RemoteAsyncDataProvider>(
           cluster_manager, init_manager, vm_config.code().remote(), dispatcher, random, true,
diff --git a/test/extensions/filters/http/wasm/config_test.cc b/test/extensions/filters/http/wasm/config_test.cc
index 67224a55cecad..7d9b5142ddd65 100644
--- a/test/extensions/filters/http/wasm/config_test.cc
+++ b/test/extensions/filters/http/wasm/config_test.cc
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ using testing::ReturnRef;
 
 namespace Envoy {
 namespace Extensions {
+
+using Common::Wasm::WasmException;
+
 namespace HttpFilters {
 namespace Wasm {
 
@@ -162,8 +165,7 @@ TEST_P(WasmFilterConfigTest, YamlLoadInlineBadCode) {
   TestUtility::loadFromYaml(yaml, proto_config);
   WasmFilterConfig factory;
   EXPECT_THROW_WITH_MESSAGE(factory.createFilterFactoryFromProto(proto_config, "stats", context_),
-                            Extensions::Common::Wasm::WasmException,
-                            "Unable to create Wasm HTTP filter ");
+                            WasmException, "Unable to create Wasm HTTP filter ");
 }
 
 TEST_P(WasmFilterConfigTest, YamlLoadFromRemoteWasm) {
@@ -253,7 +255,8 @@ TEST_P(WasmFilterConfigTest, YamlLoadFromRemoteWasmFailOnUncachedThenSucceed) {
             return &request;
           }));
 
-  factory.createFilterFactoryFromProto(proto_config, "stats", context_);
+  EXPECT_THROW_WITH_MESSAGE(factory.createFilterFactoryFromProto(proto_config, "stats", context_),
+                            WasmException, "Unable to create Wasm HTTP filter ");
 
   EXPECT_CALL(init_watcher_, ready());
   context_.initManager().initialize(init_watcher_);
@@ -264,7 +267,7 @@ TEST_P(WasmFilterConfigTest, YamlLoadFromRemoteWasmFailOnUncachedThenSucceed) {
 
   EXPECT_CALL(context_, initManager()).WillRepeatedly(ReturnRef(init_manager2));
 
-  Http::FilterFactoryCb cb = factory.createFilterFactoryFromProto(proto_config, "stats", context_);
+  auto cb = factory.createFilterFactoryFromProto(proto_config, "stats", context_);
 
   EXPECT_CALL(init_watcher2, ready());
   init_manager2.initialize(init_watcher2);
@@ -320,7 +323,8 @@ TEST_P(WasmFilterConfigTest, YamlLoadFromRemoteWasmFailCachedThenSucceed) {
           }));
 
   // Case 1: fail and fetch in the background, got 503, cache failure.
-  factory.createFilterFactoryFromProto(proto_config, "stats", context_);
+  EXPECT_THROW_WITH_MESSAGE(factory.createFilterFactoryFromProto(proto_config, "stats", context_),
+                            WasmException, "Unable to create Wasm HTTP filter ");
 
   EXPECT_CALL(init_watcher_, ready());
   context_.initManager().initialize(init_watcher_);
@@ -331,7 +335,8 @@ TEST_P(WasmFilterConfigTest, YamlLoadFromRemoteWasmFailCachedThenSucceed) {
   Init::ExpectableWatcherImpl init_watcher2;
 
   EXPECT_CALL(context_, initManager()).WillRepeatedly(ReturnRef(init_manager2));
-  factory.createFilterFactoryFromProto(proto_config, "stats", context_);
+  EXPECT_THROW_WITH_MESSAGE(factory.createFilterFactoryFromProto(proto_config, "stats", context_),
+                            WasmException, "Unable to create Wasm HTTP filter ");
 
   EXPECT_CALL(init_watcher2, ready());
   init_manager2.initialize(init_watcher2);
@@ -358,7 +363,8 @@ TEST_P(WasmFilterConfigTest, YamlLoadFromRemoteWasmFailCachedThenSucceed) {
 
   EXPECT_CALL(context_, initManager()).WillRepeatedly(ReturnRef(init_manager3));
 
-  factory.createFilterFactoryFromProto(proto_config, "stats", context_);
+  EXPECT_THROW_WITH_MESSAGE(factory.createFilterFactoryFromProto(proto_config, "stats", context_),
+                            WasmException, "Unable to create Wasm HTTP filter ");
 
   EXPECT_CALL(init_watcher3, ready());
   init_manager3.initialize(init_watcher3);
@@ -412,7 +418,8 @@ TEST_P(WasmFilterConfigTest, YamlLoadFromRemoteWasmFailCachedThenSucceed) {
 
   EXPECT_CALL(context_, initManager()).WillRepeatedly(ReturnRef(init_manager5));
 
-  factory.createFilterFactoryFromProto(proto_config2, "stats", context_);
+  EXPECT_THROW_WITH_MESSAGE(factory.createFilterFactoryFromProto(proto_config2, "stats", context_),
+                            WasmException, "Unable to create Wasm HTTP filter ");
 
   EXPECT_CALL(init_watcher_, ready());
   context_.initManager().initialize(init_watcher_);