diff --git a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
index c7175ffb3d7..4787e8cecdb 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
@@ -297,6 +297,7 @@ https://github.com/elastic/beats/compare/v8.8.1\...main[Check the HEAD diff]
 - Add ability to remove request trace logs from http_endpoint input. {pull}40005[40005]
 - Add ability to remove request trace logs from entityanalytics input. {pull}40004[40004]
 - Relax constraint on Base DN in entity analytics Active Directory provider. {pull}40054[40054]
+- Enhance input state reporting for CEL evaluations that return a single error object in events. {pull}40083[40083]
 
 *Auditbeat*
 
diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/docs/inputs/input-cel.asciidoc b/x-pack/filebeat/docs/inputs/input-cel.asciidoc
index f6c5feb4ce2..1366e7cc789 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/docs/inputs/input-cel.asciidoc
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/docs/inputs/input-cel.asciidoc
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ After completion of a program's execution it should return a single object with
 ----
 
 <1> The `events` field must be present, but may be empty or null. If it is not empty, it must only have objects as elements.
-The field should be an array, but in the case of an error condition in the CEL program it is acceptable to return a single object instead of an array; this will will be wrapped as an array for publication and an error will be logged.
+The field should be an array, but in the case of an error condition in the CEL program it is acceptable to return a single object instead of an array; this will will be wrapped as an array for publication and an error will be logged. If the single object contains a key, "error", the error value will be used to update the status of the input to report to Elastic Agent. This can be used to more rapidly respond to API failures.
 
 <2> If `cursor` is present it must be either be a single object or an array with the same length as events; each element _i_ of the `cursor` will be the details for obtaining the events at and beyond event _i_ in the `events` array. If the `cursor` is a single object it is will be the details for obtaining events after the last event in the `events` array and will only be retained on successful publication of all the events in the `events` array.
 
diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/input/cel/input.go b/x-pack/filebeat/input/cel/input.go
index 5979d99496e..9320491344e 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/input/cel/input.go
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/input/cel/input.go
@@ -382,7 +382,11 @@ func (i input) run(env v2.Context, src *source, cursor map[string]interface{}, p
 					return nil
 				}
 				log.Errorw("single event object returned by evaluation", "event", e)
-				env.UpdateStatus(status.Degraded, "single event object returned by evaluation")
+				if err, ok := e["error"]; ok {
+					env.UpdateStatus(status.Degraded, fmt.Sprintf("single event error object returned by evaluation: %s", mapstr.M{"error": err}))
+				} else {
+					env.UpdateStatus(status.Degraded, "single event object returned by evaluation")
+				}
 				isDegraded = true
 				events = []interface{}{e}
 				// Make sure the cursor is not updated.