diff --git a/e2e/utils/global-setup.ts b/e2e/utils/global-setup.ts
index 5cc94f587a..d95882dafb 100644
--- a/e2e/utils/global-setup.ts
+++ b/e2e/utils/global-setup.ts
@@ -2,51 +2,60 @@ import { Config } from '@jest/types';
 import { startLocalRegistry } from '@nx/js/plugins/jest/local-registry';
 import { existsSync, removeSync } from 'fs-extra';
 import * as isCI from 'is-ci';
-import { exec, execSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import { exec } from 'node:child_process';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 import { registerTsConfigPaths } from '../../packages/nx/src/plugins/js/utils/register';
 import { runLocalRelease } from '../../scripts/local-registry/populate-storage';
 
 export default async function (globalConfig: Config.ConfigGlobals) {
-  const isVerbose: boolean =
-    process.env.NX_VERBOSE_LOGGING === 'true' || !!globalConfig.verbose;
+  try {
+    const isVerbose: boolean =
+      process.env.NX_VERBOSE_LOGGING === 'true' || !!globalConfig.verbose;
 
-  /**
-   * For e2e-ci we populate the verdaccio storage up front, but for other workflows we need
-   * to run the full local release process before running tests.
-   */
-  const requiresLocalRelease =
-    !process.env.NX_TASK_TARGET_TARGET?.startsWith('e2e-ci');
+    /**
+     * For e2e-ci we populate the verdaccio storage up front, but for other workflows we need
+     * to run the full local release process before running tests.
+     */
+    const requiresLocalRelease =
+      !process.env.NX_TASK_TARGET_TARGET?.startsWith('e2e-ci');
 
-  global.e2eTeardown = await startLocalRegistry({
-    localRegistryTarget: '@nx/nx-source:local-registry',
-    verbose: isVerbose,
-    clearStorage: requiresLocalRelease,
-  });
+    global.e2eTeardown = await startLocalRegistry({
+      localRegistryTarget: '@nx/nx-source:local-registry',
+      verbose: isVerbose,
+      clearStorage: requiresLocalRelease,
+    });
 
-  /**
-   * Set the published version based on what has previously been loaded into the
-   * verdaccio storage.
-   */
-  if (!requiresLocalRelease) {
-    const publishedVersion = await getPublishedVersion();
-    if (publishedVersion) {
-      process.env.PUBLISHED_VERSION = publishedVersion;
+    /**
+     * Set the published version based on what has previously been loaded into the
+     * verdaccio storage.
+     */
+    if (!requiresLocalRelease) {
+      const publishedVersion = await getPublishedVersion();
+      if (publishedVersion) {
+        process.env.PUBLISHED_VERSION = publishedVersion;
+      }
     }
-  }
 
-  if (process.env.NX_E2E_SKIP_CLEANUP !== 'true' || !existsSync('./build')) {
-    if (!isCI) {
-      registerTsConfigPaths(join(__dirname, '../../tsconfig.base.json'));
-      const { e2eCwd } = await import('./get-env-info');
-      removeSync(e2eCwd);
+    if (process.env.NX_E2E_SKIP_CLEANUP !== 'true' || !existsSync('./build')) {
+      if (!isCI) {
+        registerTsConfigPaths(join(__dirname, '../../tsconfig.base.json'));
+        const { e2eCwd } = await import('./get-env-info');
+        removeSync(e2eCwd);
+      }
+      if (requiresLocalRelease) {
+        console.log('Publishing packages to local registry');
+        const publishVersion = process.env.PUBLISHED_VERSION ?? 'major';
+        // Always show full release logs on CI, they should only happen once via e2e-ci
+        await runLocalRelease(publishVersion, isCI || isVerbose);
+      }
     }
-    if (requiresLocalRelease) {
-      console.log('Publishing packages to local registry');
-      const publishVersion = process.env.PUBLISHED_VERSION ?? 'major';
-      // Always show full release logs on CI, they should only happen once via e2e-ci
-      await runLocalRelease(publishVersion, isCI || isVerbose);
+  } catch (err) {
+    // Clean up registry if possible after setup related errors
+    if (typeof global.e2eTeardown === 'function') {
+      global.e2eTeardown();
+      console.log('Killed local registry process due to an error during setup');
     }
+    throw err;
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/local-registry/populate-storage.js b/scripts/local-registry/populate-storage.js
index 8f39ac6987..e6e163877b 100644
--- a/scripts/local-registry/populate-storage.js
+++ b/scripts/local-registry/populate-storage.js
@@ -7,10 +7,11 @@ const {
 } = require('nx/src/executors/run-commands/run-commands.impl');
 
 async function populateLocalRegistryStorage() {
+  let registryTeardown;
   try {
     const publishVersion = process.env.PUBLISHED_VERSION ?? 'major';
     const isVerbose = process.env.NX_VERBOSE_LOGGING === 'true';
-    const registryTeardown = await startLocalRegistry({
+    registryTeardown = await startLocalRegistry({
       localRegistryTarget: '@nx/nx-source:local-registry',
       verbose: isVerbose,
       clearStorage: true,
@@ -22,6 +23,11 @@ async function populateLocalRegistryStorage() {
     registryTeardown();
     console.log('Killed local registry process');
   } catch (err) {
+    // Clean up registry if possible after setup related errors
+    if (typeof registryTeardown === 'function') {
+      registryTeardown();
+      console.log('Killed local registry process due to an error during setup');
+    }
     console.error('Error:', err);
     process.exit(1);
   }