diff --git a/internal/pkg/callbacks/rolling_upgrade.go b/internal/pkg/callbacks/rolling_upgrade.go
index f307c68..3a05514 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/callbacks/rolling_upgrade.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/callbacks/rolling_upgrade.go
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ func GetRolloutPodAnnotations(item runtime.Object) map[string]string {
 func GetDeploymentContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 	deployment, ok := item.(*appsv1.Deployment)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Container{}
 	}
 	return deployment.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers
 }
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ func GetDeploymentContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 func GetCronJobContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 	cronJob, ok := item.(*batchv1.CronJob)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Container{}
 	}
 	return cronJob.Spec.JobTemplate.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers
 }
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ func GetCronJobContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 func GetJobContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 	job, ok := item.(*batchv1.Job)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Container{}
 	}
 	return job.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers
 }
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ func GetJobContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 func GetDaemonSetContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 	daemonSet, ok := item.(*appsv1.DaemonSet)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Container{}
 	}
 	return daemonSet.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers
 }
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ func GetDaemonSetContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 func GetStatefulSetContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 	statefulSet, ok := item.(*appsv1.StatefulSet)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Container{}
 	}
 	return statefulSet.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers
 }
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ func GetStatefulSetContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 func GetRolloutContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 	rollout, ok := item.(*argorolloutv1alpha1.Rollout)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Container{}
 	}
 	return rollout.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers
 }
@@ -466,7 +466,7 @@ func GetRolloutContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 func GetDeploymentInitContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 	deployment, ok := item.(*appsv1.Deployment)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Container{}
 	}
 	return deployment.Spec.Template.Spec.InitContainers
 }
@@ -475,7 +475,7 @@ func GetDeploymentInitContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 func GetCronJobInitContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 	cronJob, ok := item.(*batchv1.CronJob)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Container{}
 	}
 	return cronJob.Spec.JobTemplate.Spec.Template.Spec.InitContainers
 }
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ func GetCronJobInitContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 func GetJobInitContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 	job, ok := item.(*batchv1.Job)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Container{}
 	}
 	return job.Spec.Template.Spec.InitContainers
 }
@@ -493,7 +493,7 @@ func GetJobInitContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 func GetDaemonSetInitContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 	daemonSet, ok := item.(*appsv1.DaemonSet)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Container{}
 	}
 	return daemonSet.Spec.Template.Spec.InitContainers
 }
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ func GetDaemonSetInitContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 func GetStatefulSetInitContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 	statefulSet, ok := item.(*appsv1.StatefulSet)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Container{}
 	}
 	return statefulSet.Spec.Template.Spec.InitContainers
 }
@@ -511,7 +511,7 @@ func GetStatefulSetInitContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 func GetRolloutInitContainers(item runtime.Object) []v1.Container {
 	rollout, ok := item.(*argorolloutv1alpha1.Rollout)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Container{}
 	}
 	return rollout.Spec.Template.Spec.InitContainers
 }
@@ -676,7 +676,7 @@ func PatchRollout(clients kube.Clients, namespace string, resource runtime.Objec
 func GetDeploymentVolumes(item runtime.Object) []v1.Volume {
 	deployment, ok := item.(*appsv1.Deployment)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Volume{}
 	}
 	return deployment.Spec.Template.Spec.Volumes
 }
@@ -685,7 +685,7 @@ func GetDeploymentVolumes(item runtime.Object) []v1.Volume {
 func GetCronJobVolumes(item runtime.Object) []v1.Volume {
 	cronJob, ok := item.(*batchv1.CronJob)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Volume{}
 	}
 	return cronJob.Spec.JobTemplate.Spec.Template.Spec.Volumes
 }
@@ -694,7 +694,7 @@ func GetCronJobVolumes(item runtime.Object) []v1.Volume {
 func GetJobVolumes(item runtime.Object) []v1.Volume {
 	job, ok := item.(*batchv1.Job)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Volume{}
 	}
 	return job.Spec.Template.Spec.Volumes
 }
@@ -703,7 +703,7 @@ func GetJobVolumes(item runtime.Object) []v1.Volume {
 func GetDaemonSetVolumes(item runtime.Object) []v1.Volume {
 	daemonSet, ok := item.(*appsv1.DaemonSet)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Volume{}
 	}
 	return daemonSet.Spec.Template.Spec.Volumes
 }
@@ -712,7 +712,7 @@ func GetDaemonSetVolumes(item runtime.Object) []v1.Volume {
 func GetStatefulSetVolumes(item runtime.Object) []v1.Volume {
 	statefulSet, ok := item.(*appsv1.StatefulSet)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Volume{}
 	}
 	return statefulSet.Spec.Template.Spec.Volumes
 }
@@ -721,7 +721,7 @@ func GetStatefulSetVolumes(item runtime.Object) []v1.Volume {
 func GetRolloutVolumes(item runtime.Object) []v1.Volume {
 	rollout, ok := item.(*argorolloutv1alpha1.Rollout)
 	if !ok {
-		return nil
+		return []v1.Volume{}
 	}
 	return rollout.Spec.Template.Spec.Volumes
 }
diff --git a/test/e2e/annotations/pause_period_test.go b/test/e2e/annotations/pause_period_test.go
index f49d543..869aed1 100644
--- a/test/e2e/annotations/pause_period_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/annotations/pause_period_test.go
@@ -100,8 +100,9 @@ var _ = Describe("Pause Period Tests", func() {
 			Expect(paused).To(BeFalse(), "Deployment should NOT have paused-at annotation without pause-period")
 		})
 
-		// TODO: Reloader currently only reads pause-period from deployment metadata, not pod template.
-		// This test documents the expected behavior but needs Reloader code changes to pass.
+		// FUTURE: Reloader currently only reads pause-period from deployment metadata, not pod template.
+		// This test is pending (skipped) and documents the expected future behavior.
+		// Requires Reloader code changes to support reading pause-period from pod template annotations.
 		PIt("should pause Deployment when pause-period annotation is on pod template", func() {
 			By("Creating a ConfigMap")
 			_, err := utils.CreateConfigMap(ctx, kubeClient, testNamespace, configMapName,
diff --git a/test/e2e/utils/watch.go b/test/e2e/utils/watch.go
index a405d89..f206d88 100644
--- a/test/e2e/utils/watch.go
+++ b/test/e2e/utils/watch.go
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ const (
 // ErrWatchTimeout is returned when a watch times out waiting for condition.
 var ErrWatchTimeout = errors.New("watch timeout waiting for condition")
 
+// ErrWatchError is returned when the watch receives an error event from the API server.
+var ErrWatchError = errors.New("watch received error event from API server")
+
 // ErrUnsupportedOperation is returned when an operation is not supported for a workload type.
 var ErrUnsupportedOperation = errors.New("operation not supported for this workload type")
 
@@ -109,7 +112,7 @@ func watchOnce[T runtime.Object](
 			case watch.Deleted:
 				continue
 			case watch.Error:
-				return zero, false, nil
+				return zero, false, ErrWatchError
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -172,7 +175,7 @@ func watchDeleteOnce(
 				return true, nil
 			}
 			if event.Type == watch.Error {
-				return false, nil
+				return false, ErrWatchError
 			}
 		}
 	}