diff --git a/src/gitlab.ts b/src/gitlab.ts
index ace2b15..691ca76 100644
--- a/src/gitlab.ts
+++ b/src/gitlab.ts
@@ -118,9 +118,13 @@ export const runCommandInGitlabPipeline = async (ctx: Context, task: Task): Prom
   */
   let wasBranchRegistered = false;
   const waitForBranchMaxTries = 3;
-  const waitForBranchRetryDelay = 1024;
+  const waitForBranchRetryDelayMs = 2000;
 
   const branchPresenceUrl = `${gitlabProjectApi}/repository/branches/${branchNameUrlEncoded}`;
+
+  // add small preventive delay, as checking right-away most probably would cause a retry
+  await millisecondsDelay(waitForBranchRetryDelayMs);
+
   for (let waitForBranchTryCount = 0; waitForBranchTryCount < waitForBranchMaxTries; waitForBranchTryCount++) {
     logger.debug({ branchPresenceUrl }, `Sending request to see if the branch for task ${task.id} is ready`);
     const response = await fetch(branchPresenceUrl, { headers: { "PRIVATE-TOKEN": gitlab.accessToken } });
@@ -132,8 +136,9 @@ export const runCommandInGitlabPipeline = async (ctx: Context, task: Task): Prom
         { branchPresenceUrl, task, response },
         `Branch of task ${task.id} was not found. Waiting before retrying...`,
       );
-      await millisecondsDelay(waitForBranchRetryDelay);
+      await millisecondsDelay(waitForBranchRetryDelayMs);
     } else if (response.ok) {
+      logger.debug({ branchNameUrlEncoded, response }, `Found branch ${branchNameUrlEncoded} for task ${task.id}`);
       wasBranchRegistered = true;
       break;
     } else {
@@ -143,7 +148,7 @@ export const runCommandInGitlabPipeline = async (ctx: Context, task: Task): Prom
 
   if (!wasBranchRegistered) {
     throw new Error(
-      `Task's branch was not registered on GitLab after ${waitForBranchMaxTries * waitForBranchRetryDelay}ms`,
+      `Task's branch was not registered on GitLab after ${waitForBranchMaxTries * waitForBranchRetryDelayMs}ms`,
     );
   }
 
@@ -158,6 +163,7 @@ export const runCommandInGitlabPipeline = async (ctx: Context, task: Task): Prom
       .keys({ id: Joi.number().required(), project_id: Joi.number().required() })
       .options({ allowUnknown: true }),
   );
+
   logger.info({ pipeline, task }, `Created pipeline for task ${task.id}`);
 
   const jobFetchUrl = `${gitlabProjectApi}/pipelines/${pipeline.id}/jobs`;
diff --git a/src/task.ts b/src/task.ts
index 1175540..2f1811f 100644
--- a/src/task.ts
+++ b/src/task.ts
@@ -129,7 +129,11 @@ export const queueTask = async (
   const afterTaskRun = (result: CommandOutput | null) => {
     const wasAlive = taskIsAlive;
 
-    logger.debug(result, "AfterTaskRun handler");
+    if (result instanceof Error) {
+      logger.error(result, "AfterTaskRun returned an error");
+    } else {
+      logger.debug(result, "AfterTaskRun handler");
+    }
 
     void terminate().catch((error) => {
       logger.error(error, "Failed to terminate task on afterTaskRun");
diff --git a/src/test/github-job-cancellation.spec.ts b/src/test/github-job-cancellation.spec.ts
index c73c561..1716ea8 100644
--- a/src/test/github-job-cancellation.spec.ts
+++ b/src/test/github-job-cancellation.spec.ts
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ describe("Job cancellation (GitHub webhook)", () => {
       .forGet("/api/v4/projects/paritytech-stg%2Fcommand-bot-test/pipelines/61/jobs")
       .thenReply(200, restFixures.gitlab.jobs, jsonResponseHeaders);
 
-    await until(async () => !(await mockedPipelineEndpoint.isPending()), 100, 50);
+    await until(async () => !(await mockedPipelineEndpoint.isPending()), 300, 50);
     await until(
       () => lastCommentBody.match(cancelCommandRegex) !== null,
       100,
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ describe("Job cancellation (GitHub webhook)", () => {
     const commandId = ensureDefined(lastCommentBody.match(cancelCommandRegex)?.[1]);
     await triggerWebhook("cancelCommandComment", { body: `bot cancel ${commandId}` });
 
-    await until(async () => !(await mockedEndpoint.isPending()), 100, 50);
+    await until(async () => !(await mockedEndpoint.isPending()), 300, 50);
   });
 
   test("Phase 3: cmd-bot comments about cancellation", async () => {
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ describe("Job cancellation (GitHub webhook)", () => {
 
     await triggerWebhook("cancelCommandComment", { body: `bot cancel` });
 
-    await until(async () => !(await mockedEndpoint.isPending()), 100, 50);
+    await until(async () => !(await mockedEndpoint.isPending()), 300, 50);
   });
 
   test("Phase 5: cmd-bot cancel command with no active job returns ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯", async () => {
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index ae15327..564a6ed 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -70,8 +70,11 @@ export class Err<T> {
   constructor(public value: T) {}
 }
 
+/**
+ * @throws Joi.ValidationError
+ */
 export const validatedFetch = async <T>(
-  response: ReturnType<typeof fetch>,
+  fetchFn: ReturnType<typeof fetch>,
   schema: Joi.AnySchema,
   { decoding }: { decoding: "json" } = { decoding: "json" },
 ): Promise<T> => {
@@ -79,7 +82,7 @@ export const validatedFetch = async <T>(
   const body = await (async () => {
     switch (decoding) {
       case "json": {
-        return await (await response).json();
+        return await (await fetchFn).json();
       }
       default: {
         const exhaustivenessCheck: never = decoding;
@@ -88,10 +91,13 @@ export const validatedFetch = async <T>(
       }
     }
   })();
+
   const validation = schema.validate(body);
+
   if (validation.error) {
     throw validation.error;
   }
+
   return validation.value as T;
 };