diff --git a/pkg/cmd/attestation/download/download_test.go b/pkg/cmd/attestation/download/download_test.go
index a162002cc..a1d621c45 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/attestation/download/download_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/attestation/download/download_test.go
@@ -301,4 +301,14 @@ func TestRunDownload(t *testing.T) {
 		customOpts.APIClient = nil
 		require.Error(t, runDownload(&customOpts))
 	})
+
+	t.Run("fail to write attestations to metadata file", func(t *testing.T) {
+		opts := baseOpts
+		opts.Store = &MockStore{
+			OnCreateMetadataFile: OnCreateMetadataFileFailure,
+		}
+
+		err := runDownload(&opts)
+		require.Error(t, err)
+	})
 }
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/attestation/download/metadata.go b/pkg/cmd/attestation/download/metadata.go
index a461f4302..6635aa943 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/attestation/download/metadata.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/attestation/download/metadata.go
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import (
 )
 
 type MetadataStore interface {
-	createJSONLinesFilePath(artifact string) string
 	createMetadataFile(artifactDigest string, attestationsResp []*api.Attestation) (string, error)
 }
 
@@ -57,3 +56,15 @@ func (s *LiveStore) createMetadataFile(artifactDigest string, attestationsResp [
 
 	return metadataFilePath, nil
 }
+
+type MockStore struct {
+	OnCreateMetadataFile func(artifactDigest string, attestationsResp []*api.Attestation) (string, error)
+}
+
+func (s *MockStore) createMetadataFile(artifact string, attestationsResp []*api.Attestation) (string, error) {
+	return s.OnCreateMetadataFile(artifact, attestationsResp)
+}
+
+func OnCreateMetadataFileFailure(artifactDigest string, attestationsResp []*api.Attestation) (string, error) {
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to create trusted metadata file")
+}