diff --git a/bananalyzer/data/examples.py b/bananalyzer/data/examples.py
index cc9d5467..16cd883a 100644
--- a/bananalyzer/data/examples.py
+++ b/bananalyzer/data/examples.py
@@ -23,10 +23,16 @@ def are_examples_available(path: Path) -> bool:
 
 
 def get_examples_path() -> Path:
+    """Determine the path to the examples, preferring local if available."""
     if are_examples_available(local_examples_path):
-        print("### Returning local examples ###")
+        print("### Using local examples! ###")
         return local_examples_path
-    return downloaded_examples_path
+    elif are_examples_available(downloaded_examples_path):
+        return downloaded_examples_path
+    else:
+        raise FileNotFoundError(
+            "No examples download. Re-run with `--download` to download example data via git."
+        )
 
 
 def download_examples() -> None:
diff --git a/tests/test_examples.py b/tests/test_examples.py
index 13c5008d..53273e6a 100644
--- a/tests/test_examples.py
+++ b/tests/test_examples.py
@@ -13,9 +13,11 @@
     downloaded_examples_path,
     get_all_examples,
     get_example_by_url,
+    get_examples_path,
     get_test_examples,
     get_training_examples,
     load_examples_at_path,
+    local_examples_path,
 )
 from bananalyzer.data.schemas import Example
 
@@ -40,11 +42,23 @@ def test_load_examples_at_path_file_not_found(mocker: MockFixture) -> None:
         load_examples_at_path(Path("/fake/path"), "fake.json")
 
 
+def test_get_local_examples_path() -> None:
+    # Running test in repo will default to local path
+    assert get_examples_path() == local_examples_path
+
+
+def test_get_examples_path_failure(mocker: MockFixture) -> None:
+    mocker.patch("pathlib.Path.exists", return_value=False)
+    
+    with pytest.raises(FileNotFoundError):
+        get_examples_path()
+
+
 @pytest.mark.skipif(
     os.getenv("GITHUB_ACTIONS") == "true",
     reason="Do not download 100MB dataset on GitHub Actions",
 )
-def test_download_examples():
+def test_download_examples() -> None:
     if downloaded_examples_path.exists():
         shutil.rmtree(downloaded_examples_path)