diff --git a/src/aare/devices/tell_backend.py b/src/aare/devices/tell_backend.py
index 9ce68928..b97fe4f4 100644
--- a/src/aare/devices/tell_backend.py
+++ b/src/aare/devices/tell_backend.py
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ class PShellTellBackend:
             base_url=self._url,
             endpoint=endpoint,
             operation=operation,
+            critical=True,
         ) from e
 
     def eval(self, expr: str):