diff --git a/projects/rocr-runtime/runtime/hsa-runtime/core/inc/runtime.h b/projects/rocr-runtime/runtime/hsa-runtime/core/inc/runtime.h
index 6d45542150..c5a66a0517 100644
--- a/projects/rocr-runtime/runtime/hsa-runtime/core/inc/runtime.h
+++ b/projects/rocr-runtime/runtime/hsa-runtime/core/inc/runtime.h
@@ -94,8 +94,7 @@ class Runtime {
   };
 
   /// @brief Open connection to kernel driver and increment reference count.
-  /// @retval True if the connection to kernel driver is successfully opened.
-  static bool Acquire();
+  static hsa_status_t Acquire();
 
   /// @brief Checks if connection to kernel driver is opened.
   /// @retval True if the connection to kernel driver is opened.
@@ -108,8 +107,7 @@ class Runtime {
   static Runtime* runtime_singleton_;
 
   /// @brief Decrement reference count and close connection to kernel driver.
-  /// @retval True if reference count is larger than 0.
-  bool Release();
+  hsa_status_t Release();
 
   /// @brief Insert agent into agent list ::agents_.
   /// @param [in] agent Pointer to the agent object.
@@ -362,7 +360,7 @@ class Runtime {
   ~Runtime() {}
 
   /// @brief Open connection to kernel driver.
-  void Load();
+  hsa_status_t Load();
 
   /// @brief Close connection to kernel driver and cleanup resources.
   void Unload();
diff --git a/projects/rocr-runtime/runtime/hsa-runtime/core/runtime/hsa.cpp b/projects/rocr-runtime/runtime/hsa-runtime/core/runtime/hsa.cpp
index e6acd09ef9..054ff32cbc 100644
--- a/projects/rocr-runtime/runtime/hsa-runtime/core/runtime/hsa.cpp
+++ b/projects/rocr-runtime/runtime/hsa-runtime/core/runtime/hsa.cpp
@@ -195,15 +195,11 @@ namespace HSA {
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------//
 //  Init/Shutdown routines
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------//
-hsa_status_t hsa_init() {
-  if (core::Runtime::runtime_singleton_->Acquire()) return HSA_STATUS_SUCCESS;
-  return HSA_STATUS_ERROR_REFCOUNT_OVERFLOW;
-}
+hsa_status_t hsa_init() { return core::Runtime::runtime_singleton_->Acquire(); }
 
 hsa_status_t hsa_shut_down() {
   IS_OPEN();
-  if (core::Runtime::runtime_singleton_->Release()) return HSA_STATUS_SUCCESS;
-  return HSA_STATUS_ERROR_NOT_INITIALIZED;
+  return core::Runtime::runtime_singleton_->Release();
 }
 
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------//
diff --git a/projects/rocr-runtime/runtime/hsa-runtime/core/runtime/runtime.cpp b/projects/rocr-runtime/runtime/hsa-runtime/core/runtime/runtime.cpp
index 9229cedb04..9adf5476bc 100644
--- a/projects/rocr-runtime/runtime/hsa-runtime/core/runtime/runtime.cpp
+++ b/projects/rocr-runtime/runtime/hsa-runtime/core/runtime/runtime.cpp
@@ -89,9 +89,9 @@ class RuntimeCleanup {
 
 static RuntimeCleanup cleanup_at_unload_;
 
-bool Runtime::Acquire() {
+hsa_status_t Runtime::Acquire() {
   // Check to see if HSA has been cleaned up (process exit)
-  if (!loaded) return false;
+  if (!loaded) return HSA_STATUS_ERROR_OUT_OF_RESOURCES;
 
   // Handle initialization races
   ScopedAcquire<KernelMutex> boot(&bootstrap_lock_);
@@ -104,22 +104,26 @@ bool Runtime::Acquire() {
   ScopedAcquire<KernelMutex> lock(&runtime_singleton_->kernel_lock_);
 
   if (runtime_singleton_->ref_count_ == INT32_MAX) {
-    return false;
+    return HSA_STATUS_ERROR_REFCOUNT_OVERFLOW;
   }
 
   runtime_singleton_->ref_count_++;
 
   if (runtime_singleton_->ref_count_ == 1) {
-    runtime_singleton_->Load();
+    hsa_status_t status = runtime_singleton_->Load();
+
+    if (status != HSA_STATUS_SUCCESS) {
+      return HSA_STATUS_ERROR_OUT_OF_RESOURCES;
+    }
   }
 
-  return true;
+  return HSA_STATUS_SUCCESS;
 }
 
-bool Runtime::Release() {
+hsa_status_t Runtime::Release() {
   ScopedAcquire<KernelMutex> lock(&kernel_lock_);
   if (ref_count_ == 0) {
-    return false;
+    return HSA_STATUS_ERROR_NOT_INITIALIZED;
   }
 
   if (ref_count_ == 1) {
@@ -129,7 +133,7 @@ bool Runtime::Release() {
 
   ref_count_--;
 
-  return true;
+  return HSA_STATUS_SUCCESS;
 }
 
 bool Runtime::IsOpen() {
@@ -808,13 +812,13 @@ Runtime::Runtime()
 #endif
 }
 
-void Runtime::Load() {
+hsa_status_t Runtime::Load() {
   flag_.Refresh();
 
   g_use_interrupt_wait = flag_.enable_interrupt();
 
   if (!amd::Load()) {
-    return;
+    return HSA_STATUS_ERROR_OUT_OF_RESOURCES;
   }
 
   loader_ = amd::hsa::loader::Loader::Create(&loader_context_);
@@ -826,10 +830,15 @@ void Runtime::Load() {
   LoadTools();
 
   for (core::Agent* agent : gpu_agents_) {
-    const hsa_status_t stat =
+    hsa_status_t status =
         reinterpret_cast<amd::GpuAgentInt*>(agent)->PostToolsInit();
-    assert(HSA_STATUS_SUCCESS == stat);
+
+    if (status != HSA_STATUS_SUCCESS) {
+      return status;
+    }
   }
+
+  return HSA_STATUS_SUCCESS;
 }
 
 void Runtime::Unload() {