diff --git a/lib/Admin_Bootstrap.cpp b/lib/Admin_Bootstrap.cpp
index 1b60314d5..9d156981d 100644
--- a/lib/Admin_Bootstrap.cpp
+++ b/lib/Admin_Bootstrap.cpp
@@ -939,7 +939,7 @@ bool ProxySQL_Admin::init(const bootstrap_info_t& bootstrap_info) {
 	#endif /* PROXYSQLGENAI */
 
 	if (ProxySQL_PluginManager* plugin_manager = proxysql_get_plugin_manager()) {
-		auto merge_plugin_tables = [this](std::vector<table_def_t *>* target, const std::vector<ProxySQL_PluginTableDef>& defs, const char* db_name) {
+		auto merge_plugin_tables = [this](std::vector<table_def_t *>* target, const std::vector<ProxySQL_PluginTableDef>& defs, const char* db_name) -> bool {
 			for (const auto& def : defs) {
 				bool duplicate_name = false;
 				for (const auto* existing : *target) {
@@ -949,17 +949,20 @@ bool ProxySQL_Admin::init(const bootstrap_info_t& bootstrap_info) {
 					}
 				}
 				if (duplicate_name) {
-					proxy_warning("Skipping plugin table %s for %s because the table name already exists\n",
-						      def.table_name, db_name);
-					continue;
+					proxy_error("Plugin table %s for %s conflicts with an existing table name\n",
+						    def.table_name, db_name);
+					return false;
 				}
 				insert_into_tables_defs(target, def.table_name, def.table_def);
 			}
+			return true;
 		};
 
-		merge_plugin_tables(tables_defs_admin, plugin_manager->tables(ProxySQL_PluginDBKind::admin_db), "admin");
-		merge_plugin_tables(tables_defs_config, plugin_manager->tables(ProxySQL_PluginDBKind::config_db), "config");
-		merge_plugin_tables(tables_defs_stats, plugin_manager->tables(ProxySQL_PluginDBKind::stats_db), "stats");
+		if (!merge_plugin_tables(tables_defs_admin, plugin_manager->tables(ProxySQL_PluginDBKind::admin_db), "admin") ||
+		    !merge_plugin_tables(tables_defs_config, plugin_manager->tables(ProxySQL_PluginDBKind::config_db), "config") ||
+		    !merge_plugin_tables(tables_defs_stats, plugin_manager->tables(ProxySQL_PluginDBKind::stats_db), "stats")) {
+			return false;
+		}
 	}
 
 	// init ldap here
diff --git a/lib/ProxySQL_PluginManager.cpp b/lib/ProxySQL_PluginManager.cpp
index 5e78f9449..ccaafb4e7 100644
--- a/lib/ProxySQL_PluginManager.cpp
+++ b/lib/ProxySQL_PluginManager.cpp
@@ -272,14 +272,18 @@ size_t ProxySQL_PluginManager::size() const {
 }
 
 const std::vector<ProxySQL_PluginTableDef>& ProxySQL_PluginManager::tables(ProxySQL_PluginDBKind kind) const {
+	static const std::vector<ProxySQL_PluginTableDef> empty_tables {};
+
 	switch (kind) {
 	case ProxySQL_PluginDBKind::admin_db:
 		return tables_admin_;
 	case ProxySQL_PluginDBKind::config_db:
 		return tables_config_;
 	case ProxySQL_PluginDBKind::stats_db:
-	default:
 		return tables_stats_;
+	default:
+		proxy_warning("Invalid plugin table registry kind requested: %d\n", static_cast<int>(kind));
+		return empty_tables;
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 57f77e631..8b5c15762 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -985,7 +985,10 @@ void ProxySQL_Main_init_Admin_module(const bootstrap_info_t& bootstrap_info) {
 	//GloProxyStats->init();
 	GloProxyStats->print_version();
 	GloAdmin = new ProxySQL_Admin();
-	GloAdmin->init(bootstrap_info);
+	if (!GloAdmin->init(bootstrap_info)) {
+		proxy_error("Admin module initialization failed\n");
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
 	GloAdmin->print_version();
 	if (binary_sha1) {
 		proxy_info("ProxySQL SHA1 checksum: %s\n", binary_sha1);
diff --git a/test/tap/tests/unit/plugin_registry_unit-t.cpp b/test/tap/tests/unit/plugin_registry_unit-t.cpp
index 17efe89d4..0bef24e97 100644
--- a/test/tap/tests/unit/plugin_registry_unit-t.cpp
+++ b/test/tap/tests/unit/plugin_registry_unit-t.cpp
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ ProxySQL_PluginCommandResult fake_plugin_command(const ProxySQL_PluginCommandCon
 } // namespace
 
 int main() {
-	plan(13);
+	plan(15);
 
 	ProxySQL_PluginManager mgr;
 	char table_name[] = "mysqlx_users";
@@ -45,8 +45,16 @@ int main() {
 		"invalid_table",
 		"CREATE TABLE invalid_table (id INTEGER)"
 	};
+	ProxySQL_PluginTableDef stats_def {
+		ProxySQL_PluginDBKind::stats_db,
+		"mysqlx_stats",
+		"CREATE TABLE mysqlx_stats (id INTEGER)"
+	};
 	mgr.register_table_for_test(invalid_def);
 	ok(mgr.tables(ProxySQL_PluginDBKind::admin_db).size() == static_cast<size_t>(1), "invalid db kind is rejected");
+	mgr.register_table_for_test(stats_def);
+	ok(mgr.tables(ProxySQL_PluginDBKind::stats_db).size() == static_cast<size_t>(1), "plugin stats table is stored");
+	ok(mgr.tables(static_cast<ProxySQL_PluginDBKind>(255)).empty(), "invalid table accessor returns empty");
 	ok(mgr.tables(ProxySQL_PluginDBKind::config_db).size() == static_cast<size_t>(0), "config tables start empty");
 	ok(!mgr.register_command_for_test("SELECT 1"), "unnamespaced admin SQL is rejected");
 	ok(mgr.register_command("PLUGIN MYSQLX LOAD USERS TO RUNTIME", &fake_plugin_command), "namespaced command registration succeeds");