diff --git a/cmd/score-compose/main.go b/cmd/score-compose/main.go
index a07048a..99408d1 100644
--- a/cmd/score-compose/main.go
+++ b/cmd/score-compose/main.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import (
 
 func main() {
 	if err := command.Execute(); err != nil {
-		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+		_, _ = fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Error: "+err.Error())
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/e2e-tests/resources/outputs/run --verbose-output.txt b/e2e-tests/resources/outputs/run --verbose-output.txt
index ed7891e..45c6c4e 100644
--- a/e2e-tests/resources/outputs/run --verbose-output.txt	
+++ b/e2e-tests/resources/outputs/run --verbose-output.txt	
@@ -1,17 +1 @@
-'./score.yaml'...
-Error: open ./score.yaml: no such file or directory
-Usage:
-  score-compose run [flags]
-
-Flags:
-      --build string           Replaces 'image' name with compose 'build' instruction
-      --env-file string        Location to store sample .env file
-  -f, --file string            Source SCORE file (default "./score.yaml")
-  -h, --help                   help for run
-  -o, --output string          Output file
-      --overrides string       Overrides SCORE file (default "./overrides.score.yaml")
-  -p, --property stringArray   Overrides selected property value
-      --skip-validation        DEPRECATED: Disables Score file schema validation
-      --verbose                Enable diagnostic messages (written to STDERR)
-
-open ./score.yaml: no such file or directory
\ No newline at end of file
+Error: open ./score.yaml: no such file or directory
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/e2e-tests/resources/outputs/unknown-output.txt b/e2e-tests/resources/outputs/unknown-output.txt
index 04a2e28..006fe2c 100644
--- a/e2e-tests/resources/outputs/unknown-output.txt
+++ b/e2e-tests/resources/outputs/unknown-output.txt
@@ -1,3 +1 @@
-Error: unknown command "unknown" for "score-compose"
-Run 'score-compose --help' for usage.
-unknown command "unknown" for "score-compose"
\ No newline at end of file
+Error: unknown command "unknown" for "score-compose"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/internal/command/root.go b/internal/command/root.go
index 21e9059..0f85e82 100644
--- a/internal/command/root.go
+++ b/internal/command/root.go
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ var (
 		Long: `SCORE is a specification for defining environment agnostic configuration for cloud based workloads.
 This tool produces a docker-compose configuration file from the SCORE specification.
 Complete documentation is available at https://score.dev`,
-		Version: fmt.Sprintf("%s (build: %s; sha: %s)", version.Version, version.BuildTime, version.GitSHA),
+		Version:       fmt.Sprintf("%s (build: %s; sha: %s)", version.Version, version.BuildTime, version.GitSHA),
+		SilenceErrors: true,
 	}
 )
 
diff --git a/internal/command/run.go b/internal/command/run.go
index 356454b..a9f0d7e 100644
--- a/internal/command/run.go
+++ b/internal/command/run.go
@@ -63,12 +63,10 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 var runCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "run [--file=score.yaml] [--output=compose.yaml]",
-	Short: "Translate the SCORE file to docker-compose configuration",
-	PreRun: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-		cmd.SilenceUsage = false
-	},
-	RunE: run,
+	Use:           "run [--file=score.yaml] [--output=compose.yaml]",
+	Short:         "Translate the SCORE file to docker-compose configuration",
+	RunE:          run,
+	SilenceErrors: true,
 }
 
 func run(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
diff --git a/internal/command/run_test.go b/internal/command/run_test.go
index 6e3efed..ba2493b 100644
--- a/internal/command/run_test.go
+++ b/internal/command/run_test.go
@@ -17,14 +17,19 @@ import (
 // executeAndResetCommand is a test helper that runs and then resets a command for executing in another test.
 func executeAndResetCommand(ctx context.Context, cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (string, string, error) {
 	beforeOut, beforeErr := cmd.OutOrStderr(), cmd.ErrOrStderr()
-	defer cmd.SetOut(beforeOut)
-	defer cmd.SetErr(beforeErr)
+	defer func() {
+		cmd.SetOut(beforeOut)
+		cmd.SetErr(beforeErr)
+	}()
+
 	nowOut, nowErr := new(bytes.Buffer), new(bytes.Buffer)
 	cmd.SetOut(nowOut)
 	cmd.SetErr(nowErr)
 	cmd.SetArgs(args)
 	subCmd, err := cmd.ExecuteContextC(ctx)
 	subCmd.SetContext(nil)
+	subCmd.SilenceUsage = false
+	subCmd.SilenceErrors = false
 	subCmd.Flags().VisitAll(func(f *pflag.Flag) {
 		_ = f.Value.Set(f.DefValue)
 	})
@@ -147,7 +152,7 @@ containers:
 	stdout, stderr, err := executeAndResetCommand(context.Background(), rootCmd, []string{"run", "--file", filepath.Join(td, "score.yaml"), "--output", filepath.Join(td, "compose.yaml")})
 	assert.EqualError(t, err, "building docker-compose configuration: can't mount named volume with sub path '/sub/path': not supported")
 	assert.Equal(t, "", stdout)
-	assert.Contains(t, stderr, "Error: building docker-compose configuration:")
+	assert.Equal(t, "", stderr)
 }
 
 func TestInvalidWorkloadName(t *testing.T) {
@@ -163,5 +168,5 @@ containers:
 	stdout, stderr, err := executeAndResetCommand(context.Background(), rootCmd, []string{"run", "--file", filepath.Join(td, "score.yaml")})
 	assert.EqualError(t, err, "validating workload spec: jsonschema: '/metadata/name' does not validate with https://score.dev/schemas/score#/properties/metadata/properties/name/pattern: does not match pattern '^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]{0,61}[a-z0-9]$'")
 	assert.Equal(t, "", stdout)
-	assert.Contains(t, stderr, "Error: validating workload spec:")
+	assert.Equal(t, "", stderr)
 }