diff --git a/crates/storybook2/src/storybook2.rs b/crates/storybook2/src/storybook2.rs
index 8b840b75abf43585d8bf37d1722a35c6b0785f25..30fbb079a26699c70b9821cbf4313641c2dc8fc0 100644
--- a/crates/storybook2/src/storybook2.rs
+++ b/crates/storybook2/src/storybook2.rs
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ fn main() {
     let story_selector = args.story.clone();
 
     let theme_name = args.theme.unwrap_or("One Dark".to_string());
-    let theme = themes::load_theme(theme_name);
+    let theme = themes::load_theme(theme_name).unwrap();
 
     let asset_source = Arc::new(Assets);
     gpui3::App::production(asset_source).run(move |cx| {
diff --git a/crates/storybook2/src/themes.rs b/crates/storybook2/src/themes.rs
index b348019e53bd282cd99d695841b3b9ad23cb8711..8a677952ed373b4b7054c160277b44eb53057a40 100644
--- a/crates/storybook2/src/themes.rs
+++ b/crates/storybook2/src/themes.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ mod rose_pine;
 
 pub use rose_pine::*;
 
+use anyhow::{Context, Result};
 use gpui3::serde_json;
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use ui::Theme;
@@ -14,14 +15,16 @@ struct LegacyTheme {
 }
 
 /// Loads the [`Theme`] with the given name.
-pub fn load_theme(name: String) -> Theme {
+pub fn load_theme(name: String) -> Result<Theme> {
     let theme_contents = Assets::get(&format!("themes/{name}.json"))
-        .unwrap_or_else(|| panic!("failed to load theme: {name}.json"));
+        .with_context(|| format!("theme file not found: '{name}'"))?;
 
     let legacy_theme: LegacyTheme =
-        serde_json::from_str(std::str::from_utf8(&theme_contents.data).unwrap()).unwrap();
+        serde_json::from_str(std::str::from_utf8(&theme_contents.data)?)
+            .context("failed to parse legacy theme")?;
 
-    let theme: Theme = serde_json::from_value(legacy_theme.base_theme.clone()).unwrap();
+    let theme: Theme = serde_json::from_value(legacy_theme.base_theme.clone())
+        .context("failed to parse `base_theme`")?;
 
-    theme
+    Ok(theme)
 }