diff --git a/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/jobs/export/resources.go b/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/jobs/export/resources.go
index e46c3b7e4f4..467bafb0290 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/jobs/export/resources.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/apis/provisioning/jobs/export/resources.go
@@ -225,7 +225,9 @@ func exportSingleResource(
 	}
 
 	// Convert dashboard if needed
-	if err := convertDashboardIfNeeded(ctx, gvr, item, meta, clients, dashboardShim, versionClients, resourceRef, &result, progress); err != nil {
+	var err error
+	item, meta, err = convertDashboardIfNeeded(ctx, gvr, item, meta, clients, dashboardShim, versionClients, resourceRef, &result, progress)
+	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	if result.Error != nil {
@@ -305,6 +307,7 @@ func fetchAndValidateResource(
 }
 
 // convertDashboardIfNeeded converts a dashboard to its original API version if needed.
+// Returns the potentially updated item and meta accessor.
 func convertDashboardIfNeeded(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	gvr schema.GroupVersionResource,
@@ -316,9 +319,9 @@ func convertDashboardIfNeeded(
 	resourceRef provisioning.ResourceRef,
 	result *jobs.JobResourceResult,
 	progress jobs.JobProgressRecorder,
-) error {
+) (*unstructured.Unstructured, utils.GrafanaMetaAccessor, error) {
 	if gvr.GroupResource() != resources.DashboardResource.GroupResource() {
-		return nil
+		return item, meta, nil
 	}
 
 	// Create or reuse the dashboard shim (shared across all dashboard resources)
@@ -332,7 +335,7 @@ func convertDashboardIfNeeded(
 	if err != nil {
 		result.Error = fmt.Errorf("converting dashboard %s/%s/%s: %w", resourceRef.Group, resourceRef.Kind, resourceRef.Name, err)
 		progress.Record(ctx, *result)
-		return progress.TooManyErrors()
+		return nil, nil, progress.TooManyErrors()
 	}
 
 	// Re-extract meta after shim conversion in case the item changed
@@ -341,10 +344,10 @@ func convertDashboardIfNeeded(
 		result.Action = repository.FileActionIgnored
 		result.Error = fmt.Errorf("extracting meta accessor after conversion for resource %s: %w", result.Name, err)
 		progress.Record(ctx, *result)
-		return progress.TooManyErrors()
+		return nil, nil, progress.TooManyErrors()
 	}
 
-	return nil
+	return item, meta, nil
 }
 
 // computeExportPath computes the export path by combining the base path with the folder path from the tree.
diff --git a/pkg/tests/apis/provisioning/export_resources_test.go b/pkg/tests/apis/provisioning/export_resources_test.go
index 0bc0baeb82c..6c8f44c8e1a 100644
--- a/pkg/tests/apis/provisioning/export_resources_test.go
+++ b/pkg/tests/apis/provisioning/export_resources_test.go
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ func TestIntegrationProvisioning_ExportSpecificResources(t *testing.T) {
 	dashboard2File := filepath.Join(helper.ProvisioningPath, "test-dashboard-created-at-v2beta1.json")
 
 	// Check dashboard1
-	body1, err := os.ReadFile(dashboard1File)
+	body1, err := os.ReadFile(dashboard1File) //nolint:gosec
 	require.NoError(t, err, "exported file should exist for dashboard1")
 	obj1 := map[string]any{}
 	err = json.Unmarshal(body1, &obj1)
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ func TestIntegrationProvisioning_ExportSpecificResources(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, "test-v1", val)
 
 	// Check dashboard2
-	body2, err := os.ReadFile(dashboard2File)
+	body2, err := os.ReadFile(dashboard2File) //nolint:gosec
 	require.NoError(t, err, "exported file should exist for dashboard2")
 	obj2 := map[string]any{}
 	err = json.Unmarshal(body2, &obj2)
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ func TestIntegrationProvisioning_ExportSpecificResourcesWithPath(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// Verify dashboard was exported to custom path
 	expectedFile := filepath.Join(helper.ProvisioningPath, "custom", "path", "test-dashboard-created-at-v1.json")
-	body, err := os.ReadFile(expectedFile)
+	body, err := os.ReadFile(expectedFile) //nolint:gosec
 	require.NoError(t, err, "exported file should exist at custom path")
 	obj := map[string]any{}
 	err = json.Unmarshal(body, &obj)
@@ -323,7 +323,8 @@ func TestIntegrationProvisioning_ExportSpecificResourcesWithFolderStructure(t *t
 	// Create unmanaged dashboard in the folder
 	dashboard := helper.LoadYAMLOrJSONFile("exportunifiedtorepository/dashboard-test-v1.yaml")
 	// Set folder UID in dashboard spec
-	unstructured.SetNestedField(dashboard.Object, string(folderUID), "spec", "folder")
+	err = unstructured.SetNestedField(dashboard.Object, string(folderUID), "spec", "folder")
+	require.NoError(t, err, "should be able to set folder UID")
 
 	dashboardObj, err := helper.DashboardsV1.Resource.Create(ctx, dashboard, metav1.CreateOptions{})
 	require.NoError(t, err, "should be able to create dashboard in folder")
@@ -359,7 +360,7 @@ func TestIntegrationProvisioning_ExportSpecificResourcesWithFolderStructure(t *t
 	// The folder path should be included in the file path based on the folder title
 	// Folder title is "Test Export Folder", which gets slugified to "test-export-folder"
 	expectedFile := filepath.Join(helper.ProvisioningPath, "test-export-folder", "test-dashboard-created-at-v1.json")
-	body, err := os.ReadFile(expectedFile)
+	body, err := os.ReadFile(expectedFile) //nolint:gosec
 	require.NoError(t, err, "exported file should exist with folder structure")
 	obj := map[string]any{}
 	err = json.Unmarshal(body, &obj)