diff --git a/scripts/govtool/common.mk b/scripts/govtool/common.mk
index 00ae579fe..b8c210c7c 100644
--- a/scripts/govtool/common.mk
+++ b/scripts/govtool/common.mk
@@ -35,14 +35,13 @@ __check_defined = \
     $(if $(value $1),, \
       $(error Undefined $1$(if $2, ($2))))
 
-# helper function for checking if we should force rebuild the images
-check_force_rebuild = \
-	[[ -z "$$FORCE_REBUILD" ]] || \
-	{ echo "Forcing rebuild of images"; }
-
 # helper function for checking if image exists on ECR
 check_image_on_ecr = \
-	$(docker) manifest inspect "$(repo_url)/$1:$2" > /dev/null 2>&1
+	if [ -z "$$FORCE_REBUILD" ]; then \
+	  exit 1 \
+	else \
+	  $(docker) manifest inspect "$(repo_url)/$1:$2" > /dev/null 2>&1 \
+	fi
 
 .PHONY: check-env-defined
 check-env-defined:
diff --git a/scripts/govtool/frontend.mk b/scripts/govtool/frontend.mk
index 7f8aa3fa6..2db555723 100644
--- a/scripts/govtool/frontend.mk
+++ b/scripts/govtool/frontend.mk
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ frontend_image_tag := $(shell git log -n 1 --format="%H" -- $(root_dir)/govtool/
 build-frontend: docker-login
 	@:$(call check_defined, cardano_network)
 	if [[ "$(cardano_network)" = "mainnet" ]]; then NETWORK_FLAG=1; else NETWORK_FLAG=0; fi; \
-	$(call check_force_rebuild,check_image_on_ecr,frontend,$(frontend_image_tag)) || \
+	$(call check_image_on_ecr,frontend,$(frontend_image_tag)) || \
 	$(docker) build --tag "$(repo_url)/frontend:$(frontend_image_tag)" \
 		--build-arg VITE_APP_ENV="$(env)" \
 		--build-arg VITE_BASE_URL="https://$(domain)/api" \