diff --git a/packages/app/src/cli/commands/app/init.ts b/packages/app/src/cli/commands/app/init.ts
index c293518696..9b4e708004 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/cli/commands/app/init.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/cli/commands/app/init.ts
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ async function selectAppOrNewAppName(
     return {result: 'new', name, org}
   } else {
     const app = await selectAppPrompt(searchForAppsByNameFactory(developerPlatformClient, org.id), apps, hasMorePages)
+    if (!app) throw new AbortError('Unable to select an app: the selection prompt was interrupted.')
 
     const fullSelectedApp = await developerPlatformClient.appFromIdentifiers(app.apiKey)
     if (!fullSelectedApp) throw new AbortError(`App with id ${app.id} not found`)
diff --git a/packages/app/src/cli/prompts/dev.ts b/packages/app/src/cli/prompts/dev.ts
index ab16c8612e..4f168caa53 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/cli/prompts/dev.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/cli/prompts/dev.ts
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ export async function selectAppPrompt(
   options?: {
     directory?: string
   },
-): Promise<MinimalAppIdentifiers> {
+): Promise<MinimalAppIdentifiers | undefined> {
   const tomls = await getTomls(options?.directory)
 
   if (tomls) setCachedCommandTomlMap(tomls)
@@ -64,15 +64,7 @@ export async function selectAppPrompt(
     },
   })
 
-  const appChoice = currentAppChoices.find((app) => app.apiKey === apiKey)!
-
-  if (!appChoice) {
-    throw new Error(
-      `Unable to select an app: the selection prompt was interrupted multiple times./n
-      Api key ${apiKey} was selected but not found in ${currentAppChoices.map((app) => app.apiKey).join(', ')}`,
-    )
-  }
-  return appChoice
+  return currentAppChoices.find((app) => app.apiKey === apiKey)
 }
 
 interface SelectStorePromptOptions {
diff --git a/packages/app/src/cli/services/dev/select-app.test.ts b/packages/app/src/cli/services/dev/select-app.test.ts
index d0ce4811d3..14c19b6941 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/cli/services/dev/select-app.test.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/cli/services/dev/select-app.test.ts
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@ import {AppInterface, WebType} from '../../models/app/app.js'
 import {Organization, OrganizationSource} from '../../models/organization.js'
 import {appNamePrompt, createAsNewAppPrompt, selectAppPrompt} from '../../prompts/dev.js'
 import {testApp, testOrganizationApp, testDeveloperPlatformClient} from '../../models/app/app.test-data.js'
+import {BugError} from '@shopify/cli-kit/node/error'
 import {describe, expect, vi, test} from 'vitest'
 
 vi.mock('../../prompts/dev')
+vi.mock('@shopify/cli-kit/node/output')
 
 const LOCAL_APP: AppInterface = testApp({
   directory: '',
@@ -82,4 +84,48 @@ describe('selectOrCreateApp', () => {
     expect(appNamePrompt).toHaveBeenCalledWith(LOCAL_APP.name)
     expect(developerPlatformClient.createApp).toHaveBeenCalledWith(ORG1, {name: 'app-name'})
   })
+
+  test('retries when selectAppPrompt returns undefined and succeeds on next attempt', async () => {
+    // Given
+    vi.mocked(selectAppPrompt).mockResolvedValueOnce(undefined).mockResolvedValueOnce(APPS[0])
+    vi.mocked(createAsNewAppPrompt).mockResolvedValue(false)
+
+    // When
+    const {developerPlatformClient} = mockDeveloperPlatformClient()
+    const got = await selectOrCreateApp(APPS, false, ORG1, developerPlatformClient, {name: LOCAL_APP.name})
+
+    // Then
+    expect(got).toEqual(APP1)
+    expect(selectAppPrompt).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+  })
+
+  test('throws BugError when selectAppPrompt returns undefined for all attempts', async () => {
+    // Given
+    vi.mocked(selectAppPrompt).mockResolvedValue(undefined)
+    vi.mocked(createAsNewAppPrompt).mockResolvedValue(false)
+
+    // When/Then
+    const {developerPlatformClient} = mockDeveloperPlatformClient()
+    await expect(selectOrCreateApp(APPS, false, ORG1, developerPlatformClient, {name: LOCAL_APP.name})).rejects.toThrow(
+      BugError,
+    )
+    expect(selectAppPrompt).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+  })
+
+  test('throws BugError when appFromIdentifiers returns undefined for all attempts', async () => {
+    // Given
+    vi.mocked(selectAppPrompt).mockResolvedValue(APPS[0])
+    vi.mocked(createAsNewAppPrompt).mockResolvedValue(false)
+    const developerPlatformClient = testDeveloperPlatformClient({
+      async appFromIdentifiers(_apiKey) {
+        return undefined
+      },
+    })
+
+    // When/Then
+    await expect(selectOrCreateApp(APPS, false, ORG1, developerPlatformClient, {name: LOCAL_APP.name})).rejects.toThrow(
+      BugError,
+    )
+    expect(selectAppPrompt).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+  })
 })
diff --git a/packages/app/src/cli/services/dev/select-app.ts b/packages/app/src/cli/services/dev/select-app.ts
index 2a32754f13..c0fea4a5bf 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/cli/services/dev/select-app.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/cli/services/dev/select-app.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import {getCachedCommandInfo, setCachedCommandTomlPreference} from '../local-sto
 import {CreateAppOptions, DeveloperPlatformClient} from '../../utilities/developer-platform-client.js'
 import {AppConfigurationFileName} from '../../models/app/loader.js'
 import {BugError} from '@shopify/cli-kit/node/error'
-import {outputInfo, outputDebug} from '@shopify/cli-kit/node/output'
+import {outputInfo} from '@shopify/cli-kit/node/output'
 
 const MAX_PROMPT_RETRIES = 2
 
@@ -51,52 +51,33 @@ export async function selectOrCreateApp(
     const tomls = (cachedData?.tomls as {[key: string]: AppConfigurationFileName}) ?? {}
 
     for (let attempt = 0; attempt < MAX_PROMPT_RETRIES; attempt++) {
-      try {
-        // eslint-disable-next-line no-await-in-loop
-        const app = await selectAppPrompt(
-          searchForAppsByNameFactory(developerPlatformClient, org.id),
-          apps,
-          hasMorePages,
-          {directory: options.directory},
-        )
+      // eslint-disable-next-line no-await-in-loop
+      const app = await selectAppPrompt(
+        searchForAppsByNameFactory(developerPlatformClient, org.id),
+        apps,
+        hasMorePages,
+        {directory: options.directory},
+      )
 
+      if (!app) {
+        if (attempt < MAX_PROMPT_RETRIES - 1) outputInfo('App selection failed. Retrying...')
+        continue
+      } else {
         const selectedToml = tomls[app.apiKey]
         if (selectedToml) setCachedCommandTomlPreference(selectedToml)
 
         // eslint-disable-next-line no-await-in-loop
         const fullSelectedApp = await developerPlatformClient.appFromIdentifiers(app.apiKey)
 
-        if (!fullSelectedApp) {
-          throw new BugError(
-            `Unable to fetch app ${app.apiKey} from Shopify`,
-            'Try running `shopify app config link` to connect to an app you have access to.',
-          )
-        }
-
-        return fullSelectedApp
-      } catch (error) {
-        // Don't retry BugError - those indicate actual bugs, not transient issues
-        if (error instanceof BugError) {
-          throw error
-        }
-
-        const errorObj = error as Error
-
-        // Log each attempt for observability
-        outputDebug(`App selection attempt ${attempt + 1}/${MAX_PROMPT_RETRIES} failed: ${errorObj.message}`)
-
-        // If we have retries left, inform user and retry
-        if (attempt < MAX_PROMPT_RETRIES - 1) {
-          outputInfo('App selection failed. Retrying...')
-        } else {
-          throw new BugError(errorObj.message, TRY_MESSAGE)
+        if (fullSelectedApp) {
+          return fullSelectedApp
         }
       }
     }
 
     // User-facing error message with key diagnostic info
     const errorMessage = [
-      'Unable to select an app: the selection prompt was interrupted multiple times.',
+      'Unable to select an app: the selection prompt failed multiple times.',
       '',
       `Available apps: ${apps.length}`,
     ].join('\n')