diff --git a/clientlibrary/worker/shard-consumer.go b/clientlibrary/worker/shard-consumer.go
index 9a76309..d238943 100644
--- a/clientlibrary/worker/shard-consumer.go
+++ b/clientlibrary/worker/shard-consumer.go
@@ -130,7 +130,10 @@ func (sc *ShardConsumer) getRecords(shard *shardStatus) error {
 					log.Warnf("Failed in acquiring lease on shard: %s for worker: %s", shard.ID, sc.consumerID)
 					return nil
 				}
-				log.Fatal(err)
+				// log and return error
+				log.Errorf("Error in refreshing lease on shard: %s for worker: %s. Error: %+v",
+					shard.ID, sc.consumerID, err)
+				return err
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -144,14 +147,15 @@ func (sc *ShardConsumer) getRecords(shard *shardStatus) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			if awsErr, ok := err.(awserr.Error); ok {
 				if awsErr.Code() == kinesis.ErrCodeProvisionedThroughputExceededException || awsErr.Code() == ErrCodeKMSThrottlingException {
-					log.Errorf("Error getting records from shard %v: %v", shard.ID, err)
+					log.Errorf("Error getting records from shard %v: %+v", shard.ID, err)
 					retriedErrors++
 					// exponential backoff
 					time.Sleep(time.Duration(2^retriedErrors*100) * time.Millisecond)
 					continue
 				}
 			}
-			log.Fatalf("Error getting records from Kinesis that cannot be retried: %s\nRequest: %s", err, getRecordsArgs)
+			log.Errorf("Error getting records from Kinesis that cannot be retried: %+v\nRequest: %s", err, getRecordsArgs)
+			return err
 		}
 		retriedErrors = 0