diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index b13f30fe..a991ff81 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-9.4.0 (Feb 21, 2023)
+9.4.0 (Mar 1, 2023)
 - Added support to use JSON files in localhost mode.
 - Updated default periodic telemetry post time to one hour.
 - Fixed unhandeled exception in push.manager.py class when SDK is connected to split proxy
diff --git a/splitio/sync/segment.py b/splitio/sync/segment.py
index 53d133dd..238b9f6c 100644
--- a/splitio/sync/segment.py
+++ b/splitio/sync/segment.py
@@ -255,8 +255,6 @@ def synchronize_segment(self, segment_name, till=None):
         """
         try:
             fetched = self._read_segment_from_json_file(segment_name)
-            if fetched is None:
-                return False
             fetched_sha = util._get_sha(json.dumps(fetched))
             if not self.segment_exist_in_storage(segment_name):
                     self._segment_sha[segment_name] = fetched_sha
@@ -309,10 +307,10 @@ def _sanitize_segment(self, parsed):
         """
         if 'name' not in parsed or parsed['name'] is None:
             _LOGGER.warning("Segment does not have [name] element, skipping")
-            return None
+            raise Exception("Segment does not have [name] element")
         if parsed['name'].strip() == '':
             _LOGGER.warning("Segment [name] element is blank, skipping")
-            return None
+            raise Exception("Segment [name] element is blank")
 
         for element in [('till', -1, -1, None, None, [0]),
                         ('added', [], None, None, None, None),
diff --git a/tests/sync/test_segments_synchronizer.py b/tests/sync/test_segments_synchronizer.py
index 10830229..4612937a 100644
--- a/tests/sync/test_segments_synchronizer.py
+++ b/tests/sync/test_segments_synchronizer.py
@@ -305,11 +305,21 @@ def test_json_elements_sanitization(self, mocker):
 
         # should reject segment if 'name' is null
         segment2 = {"name": None, "added": [], "removed": [], "since": -1, "till": 12}
-        assert(segment_synchronizer._sanitize_segment(segment2) == None)
+        exception_called = False
+        try:
+            segment_synchronizer._sanitize_segment(segment2)
+        except:
+            exception_called = True
+        assert(exception_called)
 
         # should reject segment if 'name' does not exist
         segment2 = {"added": [], "removed": [], "since": -1, "till": 12}
-        assert(segment_synchronizer._sanitize_segment(segment2) == None)
+        exception_called = False
+        try:
+            segment_synchronizer._sanitize_segment(segment2)
+        except:
+            exception_called = True
+        assert(exception_called)
 
         # should add missing 'added' element
         segment2 = {"name": 'seg', "removed": [], "since": -1, "till": 12}