diff --git a/src/v/cloud_topics/level_one/frontend_reader/BUILD b/src/v/cloud_topics/level_one/frontend_reader/BUILD
index 951aada4262d6..de754e3be3438 100644
--- a/src/v/cloud_topics/level_one/frontend_reader/BUILD
+++ b/src/v/cloud_topics/level_one/frontend_reader/BUILD
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ redpanda_cc_library(
         "//src/v/cloud_topics/level_one/metastore:retry",
         "//src/v/model",
         "//src/v/model:timeout_clock",
+        "//src/v/ssx:future_util",
         "//src/v/utils:prefix_logger",
         "//src/v/utils:retry_chain_node",
         "@seastar",
diff --git a/src/v/cloud_topics/level_one/frontend_reader/level_one_reader.cc b/src/v/cloud_topics/level_one/frontend_reader/level_one_reader.cc
index 7a94888d5b326..b9663d5e2b4b1 100644
--- a/src/v/cloud_topics/level_one/frontend_reader/level_one_reader.cc
+++ b/src/v/cloud_topics/level_one/frontend_reader/level_one_reader.cc
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include "cloud_topics/logger.h"
 #include "model/fundamental.h"
 #include "model/timeout_clock.h"
+#include "ssx/future-util.h"
 #include "utils/retry_chain_node.h"
 
 #include <seastar/coroutine/as_future.hh>
@@ -63,10 +64,15 @@ ss::future<model::record_batch_reader::storage_t>
 level_one_log_reader_impl::do_load_slice(
   model::timeout_clock::time_point deadline) {
     try {
-        return read_some(deadline);
+        co_return co_await read_some(deadline);
     } catch (...) {
-        vlog(
-          _log.error, "Reader caught exception: {}", std::current_exception());
+        auto ex = std::current_exception();
+        vlogl(
+          _log,
+          ssx::is_shutdown_exception(ex) ? ss::log_level::debug
+                                         : ss::log_level::warn,
+          "Reader caught exception: {}",
+          ex);
         set_end_of_stream();
         throw;
     }
diff --git a/src/v/cloud_topics/level_zero/frontend_reader/BUILD b/src/v/cloud_topics/level_zero/frontend_reader/BUILD
index ec5d5174e07a8..a7f403bdf61f7 100644
--- a/src/v/cloud_topics/level_zero/frontend_reader/BUILD
+++ b/src/v/cloud_topics/level_zero/frontend_reader/BUILD
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ redpanda_cc_library(
         "//src/v/cloud_topics/level_zero/stm:placeholder",
         "//src/v/cluster",
         "//src/v/config",
-        "//src/v/ssx:future_util",
     ],
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
     deps = [
diff --git a/src/v/cloud_topics/level_zero/frontend_reader/level_zero_reader.cc b/src/v/cloud_topics/level_zero/frontend_reader/level_zero_reader.cc
index 74e6ada889650..ba7f40d1ae585 100644
--- a/src/v/cloud_topics/level_zero/frontend_reader/level_zero_reader.cc
+++ b/src/v/cloud_topics/level_zero/frontend_reader/level_zero_reader.cc
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 #include "cluster/partition.h"
 #include "config/configuration.h"
 #include "model/timeout_clock.h"
-#include "ssx/future-util.h"
 
 #include <seastar/coroutine/maybe_yield.hh>
 
@@ -49,13 +48,13 @@ ss::future<model::record_batch_reader::storage_t>
 level_zero_log_reader_impl::do_load_slice(
   model::timeout_clock::time_point deadline) {
     try {
-        return read_some(deadline);
+        co_return co_await read_some(deadline);
     } catch (...) {
         auto ex = std::current_exception();
         vlogl(
           _log,
           ssx::is_shutdown_exception(ex) ? ss::log_level::debug
-                                         : ss::log_level::error,
+                                         : ss::log_level::warn,
           "Reader caught exception: {}",
           ex);
         set_end_of_stream();