diff --git a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Data/DatFile.cpp b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Data/DatFile.cpp
index 352000fd..d98dd1cb 100644
--- a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Data/DatFile.cpp
+++ b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Data/DatFile.cpp
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ bool DatFile::load(const std::filesystem::path& filename, DatFile* out) {
     if (sscanf(line.c_str(), "%u %le %le %le", &out->m_lineCount, &out->m_start, &out->m_end, &out->m_step) != 4) {
 #endif
         RAYX_EXIT << "Failed to parse DatFile \"" << filename << "\", at line 2: \"" << line << "\"";
+        return false;
     }
     out->m_Lines.reserve(out->m_lineCount);
 
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ bool DatFile::load(const std::filesystem::path& filename, DatFile* out) {
         if (sscanf(line.c_str(), "%le %le", &e.m_energy, &e.m_weight) != 2) {
 #endif
             RAYX_EXIT << "Failed to parse DatFile \"" << filename << "\", at line " << lineidx << ": \"" << line << "\"";
+            return false;
         }
         out->m_Lines.push_back(e);
         out->m_weightSum += e.m_weight;
diff --git a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Data/Strings.cpp b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Data/Strings.cpp
index 33db4695..00eda202 100644
--- a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Data/Strings.cpp
+++ b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Data/Strings.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ ElementType findElementString(const std::string& name) {
     } else {
         RAYX_LOG << "Could not find element with name: " << name;
         RAYX_EXIT << "Error in findElementString(const std::string&): Element not found";
+        return ElementType::ImagePlane;  // or some other default/fallback value
     }
 }
 }  // namespace RAYX
diff --git a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Data/xml.cpp b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Data/xml.cpp
index b72cad7a..37f89902 100644
--- a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Data/xml.cpp
+++ b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Data/xml.cpp
@@ -375,6 +375,7 @@ bool paramEnergyDistribution(const rapidxml::xml_node<>* node, const std::filesy
         RAYX_EXIT << "paramEnergyDistribution is not implemented for "
                      "energyDistributionType"
                   << static_cast<int>(energyDistributionType) << "!";
+        return false;
     }
 }
 
@@ -568,6 +569,7 @@ Cutout Parser::parseCutout(DesignPlane plane, std::string type) const {
             return parseTotalLength();
         } else {
             RAYX_EXIT << "parseCutout encountered an invalid design plane!";
+            return 0.0;
         }
     };
 
@@ -590,6 +592,7 @@ Cutout Parser::parseCutout(DesignPlane plane, std::string type) const {
         return serializeTrapezoid(trapezoid);
     } else {
         RAYX_EXIT << "invalid geometrical shape!";
+        return {0, {0.0, 0.0, 0.0}};
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Element/Behaviour.cpp b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Element/Behaviour.cpp
index b7b45597..1d9f3323 100644
--- a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Element/Behaviour.cpp
+++ b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Element/Behaviour.cpp
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ Cutout mkOpeningCutout(const DesignElement& dele) {
         });
     } else {
         RAYX_EXIT << "unsupported opening type!";
+        return {};
     }
 }
 
@@ -71,6 +72,7 @@ Cutout mkBeamstopCutout(const DesignElement& dele) {
         });
     } else {
         RAYX_EXIT << "unsupported CentralBeamstop type!";
+        return {};
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Material/Material.cpp b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Material/Material.cpp
index 3505634a..20d28e39 100644
--- a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Material/Material.cpp
+++ b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Material/Material.cpp
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ const char* getMaterialName(Material m) {
 #undef X
     }
     RAYX_EXIT << "unknown material in getMaterialName()!";
+    return nullptr;
 }
 
 // std::vector over all materials
@@ -50,6 +51,7 @@ bool materialFromString(const char* matname, Material* out) {
         }
     }
     RAYX_EXIT << "materialFromString(): material \"" << matname << "\" not found";
+    return false;
 }
 
 MaterialTables loadMaterialTables(std::array<bool, 92> relevantMaterials) {
diff --git a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Tracer/Tracer.cpp b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Tracer/Tracer.cpp
index 9cae5605..a5fc18f3 100644
--- a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Tracer/Tracer.cpp
+++ b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Tracer/Tracer.cpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ inline std::shared_ptr<RAYX::DeviceTracer> createDeviceTracer(DeviceType deviceT
             return std::make_shared<RAYX::SimpleTracer<GpuAccHip>>(deviceIndex);
 #else
             RAYX_EXIT << "Failed to create Tracer with Hip device. Hip was disabled during build.";
+            return nullptr;
 #endif
         default:  // case DeviceType::Cpu
             using CpuAcc = RAYX::DefaultCpuAcc<Dim, Idx>;
diff --git a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Writer/Writer.cpp b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Writer/Writer.cpp
index efe84f30..fb2254ad 100644
--- a/Intern/rayx-core/src/Writer/Writer.cpp
+++ b/Intern/rayx-core/src/Writer/Writer.cpp
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ FormatComponent componentFromString(const std::string& comp) {
     }
     RAYX_WARN << "Cannot evaluate format component \"" << comp << "\"!";
     RAYX_EXIT << "A valid format would be \"" << defaultFormatString() << "\"";
+    return {};
 }
 
 Format formatFromString(const std::string& s) {
diff --git a/Intern/rayx-core/tests/setupTests.cpp b/Intern/rayx-core/tests/setupTests.cpp
index b96b181a..2a453689 100644
--- a/Intern/rayx-core/tests/setupTests.cpp
+++ b/Intern/rayx-core/tests/setupTests.cpp
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ double parseDouble(std::string s) {
 #endif
         RAYX_WARN << "parseDouble failed for string:";
         RAYX_EXIT << s;
+        return false;
     }
     return d;
 }