diff --git a/kafka-connect/kafka-connect/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/connect/channel/Coordinator.java b/kafka-connect/kafka-connect/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/connect/channel/Coordinator.java
index c986f8afc2eb..eec133acc683 100644
--- a/kafka-connect/kafka-connect/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/connect/channel/Coordinator.java
+++ b/kafka-connect/kafka-connect/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/connect/channel/Coordinator.java
@@ -150,11 +150,10 @@ protected boolean receive(Envelope envelope) {
   private void commit(boolean partialCommit) {
     try {
       doCommit(partialCommit);
-    } catch (Exception e) {
-      LOG.warn(
-          "Coordinator {} failed to commit for commit {}, will try again next cycle",
-          taskId,
-          commitState.currentCommitId(),
+    } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+      throw new RuntimeException(
+          String.format(
+              "Coordinator %s failed to commit %s", taskId, commitState.currentCommitId()),
           e);
     } finally {
       commitState.endCurrentCommit();
diff --git a/kafka-connect/kafka-connect/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/connect/channel/TestCoordinator.java b/kafka-connect/kafka-connect/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/connect/channel/TestCoordinator.java
index ed370fcdad35..cea608c2edb1 100644
--- a/kafka-connect/kafka-connect/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/connect/channel/TestCoordinator.java
+++ b/kafka-connect/kafka-connect/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/connect/channel/TestCoordinator.java
@@ -19,12 +19,16 @@
 package org.apache.iceberg.connect.channel;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatThrownBy;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.doThrow;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.spy;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
 import java.time.OffsetDateTime;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.UUID;
+import org.apache.iceberg.AppendFiles;
 import org.apache.iceberg.DataFile;
 import org.apache.iceberg.DataFiles;
 import org.apache.iceberg.DataOperations;
@@ -45,6 +49,8 @@
 import org.apache.iceberg.connect.events.StartCommit;
 import org.apache.iceberg.connect.events.TableReference;
 import org.apache.iceberg.connect.events.TopicPartitionOffset;
+import org.apache.iceberg.exceptions.CommitFailedException;
+import org.apache.iceberg.exceptions.ValidationException;
 import org.apache.iceberg.relocated.com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
 import org.apache.iceberg.relocated.com.google.common.collect.Lists;
 import org.apache.iceberg.types.Types.StructType;
@@ -135,7 +141,11 @@ public void testCommitError() {
             .withRecordCount(5)
             .build();
 
-    coordinatorTest(ImmutableList.of(badDataFile), ImmutableList.of(), null);
+    assertThatThrownBy(
+            () -> coordinatorTest(ImmutableList.of(badDataFile), ImmutableList.of(), null))
+        .isInstanceOf(RuntimeException.class)
+        .hasMessageContaining("failed to commit")
+        .hasRootCauseInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class);
 
     // no commit messages sent
     assertThat(producer.history()).hasSize(1);
@@ -143,6 +153,31 @@ public void testCommitError() {
     assertThat(table.snapshots()).isEmpty();
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testCommitFailedExceptionPropagates() {
+    // Reproduce issue #15878: a CommitFailedException from the catalog (e.g., Glue concurrent
+    // update) must propagate out of Coordinator.process() so that CoordinatorThread terminates
+    // and the Kafka Connect task transitions to FAILED instead of silently dropping data.
+    Table spiedTable = spy(table);
+    AppendFiles spiedAppend = spy(table.newAppend());
+    doThrow(new CommitFailedException("Glue detected concurrent update"))
+        .when(spiedAppend)
+        .commit();
+    when(spiedTable.newAppend()).thenReturn(spiedAppend);
+    when(catalog.loadTable(TABLE_IDENTIFIER)).thenReturn(spiedTable);
+
+    assertThatThrownBy(
+            () ->
+                coordinatorTest(
+                    ImmutableList.of(EventTestUtil.createDataFile()),
+                    ImmutableList.of(),
+                    EventTestUtil.now()))
+        .isInstanceOf(RuntimeException.class)
+        .hasMessageContaining("failed to commit")
+        .hasRootCauseInstanceOf(CommitFailedException.class)
+        .hasRootCauseMessage("Glue detected concurrent update");
+  }
+
   private void assertCommitTable(int idx, UUID commitId, OffsetDateTime ts) {
     byte[] bytes = producer.history().get(idx).value();
     Event commitTable = AvroUtil.decode(bytes);
@@ -289,9 +324,17 @@ public void testCoordinatorCommittedOffsetValidation() {
     Snapshot firstSnapshot = table.currentSnapshot();
     assertThat(firstSnapshot.summary()).containsEntry(OFFSETS_SNAPSHOT_PROP, "{\"0\":7}");
 
-    // Trigger commit to the table
-    coordinatorTest(
-        ImmutableList.of(EventTestUtil.createDataFile()), ImmutableList.of(), EventTestUtil.now());
+    // Trigger commit to the table; the coordinator detects stale offsets and surfaces the
+    // ValidationException instead of silently swallowing it (see issue #15878).
+    assertThatThrownBy(
+            () ->
+                coordinatorTest(
+                    ImmutableList.of(EventTestUtil.createDataFile()),
+                    ImmutableList.of(),
+                    EventTestUtil.now()))
+        .isInstanceOf(RuntimeException.class)
+        .hasMessageContaining("failed to commit")
+        .hasRootCauseInstanceOf(ValidationException.class);
 
     // Assert that the table was not updated and offsets remain
     table.refresh();