diff --git a/theodolite/crd/crd-benchmark.yaml b/theodolite/crd/crd-benchmark.yaml
index 8fc7d08eef62ceb90b79328c3d55839bce81ecdd..529d1ea427a2867f290f360a7330ccabfaf4305f 100644
--- a/theodolite/crd/crd-benchmark.yaml
+++ b/theodolite/crd/crd-benchmark.yaml
@@ -87,7 +87,9 @@ spec:
                           type: object
                           properties:
                             command:
-                              type: string
+                              type: array
+                              items:
+                                type: string
                   afterActions:
                     type: array
                     default: []
@@ -111,7 +113,9 @@ spec:
                           type: object
                           properties:
                             command:
-                              type: string
+                              type: array
+                              items:
+                                type: string
               sut:
                 description: The appResourceSets specifies all Kubernetes resources required to start the sut. A resourceSet can be either a configMap resourceSet or a fileSystem resourceSet.
                 type: object
@@ -172,7 +176,9 @@ spec:
                           type: object
                           properties:
                             command:
-                              type: string
+                              type: array
+                              items:
+                                type: string
                   afterActions:
                     type: array
                     default: []
@@ -196,7 +202,9 @@ spec:
                           type: object
                           properties:
                             command:
-                              type: string
+                              type: array
+                              items:
+                                type: string
               loadGenerator:
                 description: The loadGenResourceSets specifies all Kubernetes resources required to start the load generator. A resourceSet can be either a configMap resourceSet or a fileSystem resourceSet.
                 type: object
@@ -257,7 +265,9 @@ spec:
                           type: object
                           properties:
                             command:
-                              type: string
+                              type: array
+                              items:
+                                type: string
                   afterActions:
                     type: array
                     default: []
@@ -281,7 +291,9 @@ spec:
                           type: object
                           properties:
                             command:
-                              type: string
+                              type: array
+                              items:
+                                type: string
               resourceTypes:
                 description: A list of resource types that can be scaled for this `benchmark` resource. For each resource type the concrete values are defined in the `execution` object.
                 type: array
diff --git a/theodolite/examples/operator/example-benchmark.yaml b/theodolite/examples/operator/example-benchmark.yaml
index 3302ea8a83bff270a05cc9041d8d69b7904634ed..945a05b381565904e5b11e013975c9b2a321e9dc 100644
--- a/theodolite/examples/operator/example-benchmark.yaml
+++ b/theodolite/examples/operator/example-benchmark.yaml
@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@ spec:
       - selector:
           pod:
             matchLabels:
-              app: titan-ccp-aggregation
+              app: busybox1
         exec:
-          command: "ls -l" # or list
+          command: ["rm", "test-folder"]
   loadGenerator:
     resources:
       - configMap:
@@ -29,15 +29,7 @@ spec:
          files:
             - uc1-load-generator-service.yaml
             - uc1-load-generator-deployment.yaml
-    beforeActions:
-      - selector:
-          pod:
-            matchLabels:
-              'app.kubernetes.io/name': grafana
-
-          #container: "abc" # optional (if there is only one container or there exists something like a default container)
-        exec:
-          command: "kafka-topics.sh --create --topic abc" # or list
+    beforeActions: []
   resourceTypes:
     - typeName: "Instances"
       patchers:
diff --git a/theodolite/src/main/kotlin/theodolite/benchmark/Action.kt b/theodolite/src/main/kotlin/theodolite/benchmark/Action.kt
index f6fac38d035759d11614db16a6ddd1fb6de58e14..9fff88eeaa813424a40e7351b7f2912c3f1f996a 100644
--- a/theodolite/src/main/kotlin/theodolite/benchmark/Action.kt
+++ b/theodolite/src/main/kotlin/theodolite/benchmark/Action.kt
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonInclude
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.annotation.JsonDeserialize
 import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.NamespacedKubernetesClient
 import io.quarkus.runtime.annotations.RegisterForReflection
+import theodolite.util.ActionCommandFailedException
 
 @JsonDeserialize
 @RegisterForReflection
@@ -14,12 +15,15 @@ class Action {
     lateinit var exec: Command
 
     fun exec(client: NamespacedKubernetesClient) {
-        ActionCommand(client = client)
+        val exitCode = ActionCommand(client = client)
             .exec(
                 matchLabels = selector.pod.matchLabels,
                 container = selector.container,
                 command = exec.command
-            )
+        )
+            if(exitCode != 0){
+            throw ActionCommandFailedException("Error while executing action, finished with exit code $exitCode")
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -37,5 +41,5 @@ class PodSelector {
 @JsonDeserialize
 @RegisterForReflection
 class Command {
-    lateinit var command: String
+    lateinit var command: Array<String>
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/theodolite/src/main/kotlin/theodolite/benchmark/ActionCommand.kt b/theodolite/src/main/kotlin/theodolite/benchmark/ActionCommand.kt
index 3a846f7d1f8d4228515610a81066c805985c3b45..bceb456c0e83b8ff3453f1cd9d6ddd78b92e437e 100644
--- a/theodolite/src/main/kotlin/theodolite/benchmark/ActionCommand.kt
+++ b/theodolite/src/main/kotlin/theodolite/benchmark/ActionCommand.kt
@@ -27,9 +27,9 @@ class ActionCommand(val client: NamespacedKubernetesClient) {
      * `of any` of is used and the command is called on one of the possible pods.
      * @param container (Optional) The container to run the command. Is optional iff exactly one container exist.
      * @param command The command to be executed.
-     * @return
+     * @return the exit code of this executed command
      */
-    fun exec(matchLabels: MutableMap<String, String>, command: String, container: String = ""): Int {
+    fun exec(matchLabels: MutableMap<String, String>, command: Array<String>, container: String = ""): Int {
 
         val exitCode = ExitCode()
 
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class ActionCommand(val client: NamespacedKubernetesClient) {
                 .writingOutput(out)
                 .writingError(error)
                 .usingListener(MyPodExecListener(execLatch, exitCode))
-                .exec(*command.split(" ").toTypedArray())
+                .exec(*command)
 
             val latchTerminationStatus = execLatch.await(TIMEOUT, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
             if (!latchTerminationStatus) {
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class ActionCommand(val client: NamespacedKubernetesClient) {
             throw ActionCommandFailedException("Interrupted while waiting for the exec", e)
         }
 
-        logger.info { "Action command finished with code $exitCode" }
+        logger.info { "Action command finished with code ${exitCode.code}" }
         return exitCode.code
     }
 
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ class ActionCommand(val client: NamespacedKubernetesClient) {
 
         override fun onFailure(throwable: Throwable, response: Response) {
             execLatch.countDown()
-            throw ActionCommandFailedException("Some error encountered while executing action")
+            throw ActionCommandFailedException("Some error encountered while executing action: ${throwable.printStackTrace()}")
         }
 
         override fun onClose(code: Int, reason: String) {