diff --git a/internal/agent/tools/ls.go b/internal/agent/tools/ls.go
index f53e7be50a84da6ae1672ef7c2129067680bc077..2ee7695ed3e2bc9495c00f650f0e9bdca86197d7 100644
--- a/internal/agent/tools/ls.go
+++ b/internal/agent/tools/ls.go
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ func NewLsTool(permissions permission.Service, workingDir string, lsConfig confi
 
 			output, metadata, err := ListDirectoryTree(searchPath, params, lsConfig)
 			if err != nil {
-				return fantasy.ToolResponse{}, err
+				return fantasy.NewTextErrorResponse(err.Error()), err
 			}
 
 			return fantasy.WithResponseMetadata(