diff --git a/checkstyle/suppressions.xml b/checkstyle/suppressions.xml
index 325728a7750..32ce64c59ef 100644
--- a/checkstyle/suppressions.xml
+++ b/checkstyle/suppressions.xml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
               files="(AvroData|ConfigResource|DownloadSchemaRegistryMojo|KafkaSchemaRegistry|KafkaStore|KafkaStoreReaderThread|MessageDefinition|Schema|SchemaValue|SchemaDiff|MessageSchemaDiff|AbstractKafkaSchemaSerDe|AbstractKafkaAvroSerializer|AbstractKafkaAvroDeserializer|AbstractKafkaJsonSchemaDeserializer|AbstractKafkaProtobufDeserializer|ProtobufData|ProtobufSchemaUtils|JsonSchemaData|SchemaMessageFormatter|SchemaMessageReader|ContextFilter|QualifiedSubject|SubjectVersionsResource|Rule|WildcardMatcher|JsonSchemaComparator|LocalSchemaRegistryClient|DataEncryptionKeyId|FieldEncryptionExecutor).java"/>
 
     <suppress checks="JavaNCSS"
-              files="(AbstractKafkaAvroSerializer|AbstractKafkaJsonSchemaSerializer|AbstractKafkaJsonSchemaDeserializer|AbstractKafkaProtobufSerializer|AbstractKafkaProtobufDeserializer|AvroData|AvroSchema|AvroSchemaUtils|ProtobufData|SchemaDiff|NumberSchemaDiff|JsonSchema|JsonSchemaData|KafkaSchemaRegistry|KafkaStoreReaderThread|ProtobufSchema|ProtobufSchemaUtils|JsonSchemaComparator|SchemaMessageFormatter|SchemaMessageReader).java"/>
+              files="(AbstractKafkaAvroSerializer|AbstractKafkaJsonSchemaSerializer|AbstractKafkaJsonSchemaDeserializer|AbstractKafkaProtobufSerializer|AbstractKafkaProtobufDeserializer|AbstractKafkaSchemaSerDe|AvroData|AvroSchema|AvroSchemaUtils|ProtobufData|SchemaDiff|NumberSchemaDiff|JsonSchema|JsonSchemaData|KafkaSchemaRegistry|KafkaStoreReaderThread|ProtobufSchema|ProtobufSchemaUtils|JsonSchemaComparator|SchemaMessageFormatter|SchemaMessageReader).java"/>
 
     <suppress checks="MethodLength"
               files="(AvroData|ProtobufSchema|ProtobufSchemaUtils).java"/>
diff --git a/schema-rules/src/main/java/io/confluent/kafka/schemaregistry/rules/cel/CelExecutor.java b/schema-rules/src/main/java/io/confluent/kafka/schemaregistry/rules/cel/CelExecutor.java
index 7fe9ff4749b..c3e1771689a 100644
--- a/schema-rules/src/main/java/io/confluent/kafka/schemaregistry/rules/cel/CelExecutor.java
+++ b/schema-rules/src/main/java/io/confluent/kafka/schemaregistry/rules/cel/CelExecutor.java
@@ -134,24 +134,16 @@ public Object transform(RuleContext ctx, Object message) throws RuleException {
       input = message;
     }
     Object result = execute(ctx, input, ImmutableMap.of("message", input));
-    if (ctx.rule().getKind() == RuleKind.CONDITION) {
-      if (Boolean.TRUE.equals(result)) {
-        return message;
-      } else {
-        throw new RuleException("Expr failed: '" + ctx.rule().getExpr() + "'");
-      }
-    } else {
-      if (result instanceof Map) {
-        // Convert maps to the target object type
-        try {
-          JsonNode jsonNode = mapper.valueToTree(result);
-          result = ctx.target().fromJson(jsonNode);
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-          throw new RuleException(e);
-        }
+    if (result instanceof Map) {
+      // Convert maps to the target object type
+      try {
+        JsonNode jsonNode = mapper.valueToTree(result);
+        result = ctx.target().fromJson(jsonNode);
+      } catch (IOException e) {
+        throw new RuleException(e);
       }
-      return result;
     }
+    return result;
   }
 
   protected Object execute(
diff --git a/schema-rules/src/test/java/io/confluent/kafka/schemaregistry/rules/jsonata/JsonataExecutorTest.java b/schema-rules/src/test/java/io/confluent/kafka/schemaregistry/rules/jsonata/JsonataExecutorTest.java
index b289b78387b..58ffe874a22 100644
--- a/schema-rules/src/test/java/io/confluent/kafka/schemaregistry/rules/jsonata/JsonataExecutorTest.java
+++ b/schema-rules/src/test/java/io/confluent/kafka/schemaregistry/rules/jsonata/JsonataExecutorTest.java
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ public JsonataExecutorTest() {
     defaultConfig.put(KafkaAvroSerializerConfig.LATEST_COMPATIBILITY_STRICT, "false");
     defaultConfig.put(KafkaAvroSerializerConfig.RULE_EXECUTORS, "jsonata");
     defaultConfig.put(KafkaAvroSerializerConfig.RULE_EXECUTORS + ".jsonata.class",
-        JsonataExecutor.class.getName());
+        JsonataExecutor.class);
     avroSerializer = new KafkaAvroSerializer(schemaRegistry, defaultConfig);
     Map<String, Object> defaultConfig2 = new HashMap<>(defaultConfig);
     defaultConfig2.put(KafkaAvroSerializerConfig.USE_LATEST_WITH_METADATA,
diff --git a/schema-serializer/src/main/java/io/confluent/kafka/serializers/AbstractKafkaSchemaSerDe.java b/schema-serializer/src/main/java/io/confluent/kafka/serializers/AbstractKafkaSchemaSerDe.java
index a79fe91ddaa..df27ab27086 100644
--- a/schema-serializer/src/main/java/io/confluent/kafka/serializers/AbstractKafkaSchemaSerDe.java
+++ b/schema-serializer/src/main/java/io/confluent/kafka/serializers/AbstractKafkaSchemaSerDe.java
@@ -229,9 +229,10 @@ private Stream<RuleBase> initRuleObject(
     if (propertyValue == null) {
       return Stream.empty();
     }
-    String className = propertyValue.toString();
     try {
-      RuleBase ruleObject = Utils.newInstance(className, RuleBase.class);
+      RuleBase ruleObject = propertyValue instanceof Class
+          ? Utils.newInstance((Class<?>) propertyValue, RuleBase.class)
+          : Utils.newInstance(propertyValue.toString(), RuleBase.class);
       configureRuleObject(ruleObject, name, config, configName);
       return Stream.of(ruleObject);
     } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
@@ -675,7 +676,23 @@ protected Object executeRules(
       RuleExecutor ruleExecutor = getRuleExecutor(ctx);
       if (ruleExecutor != null) {
         try {
-          message = ruleExecutor.transform(ctx, message);
+          Object result = ruleExecutor.transform(ctx, message);
+          switch (rule.getKind()) {
+            case CONDITION:
+              if (Boolean.FALSE.equals(result)) {
+                String expr = rule.getExpr();
+                String errMsg = expr != null
+                    ? "Expr failed: '" + expr + "'"
+                    : "Condition failed: '" + rule.getName() + "'";
+                throw new RuleException(errMsg);
+              }
+              break;
+            case TRANSFORM:
+              message = result;
+              break;
+            default:
+              throw new IllegalStateException("Unsupported rule kind " + rule.getKind());
+          }
           runAction(ctx, ruleMode, rule,
               message != null ? rule.getOnSuccess() : rule.getOnFailure(),
               message, null, message != null ? null : ErrorAction.TYPE
@@ -719,6 +736,10 @@ private void runAction(RuleContext ctx, RuleMode ruleMode, Rule rule, String act
     }
     if (actionName != null) {
       RuleAction ruleAction = getRuleAction(ctx, actionName);
+      if (ruleAction == null) {
+        log.error("Could not find rule action of type {}", actionName);
+        throw new ConfigException("Could not find rule action of type " + actionName);
+      }
       try {
         ruleAction.run(ctx, message, ex);
       } catch (RuleException e) {