diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 1d85662..55e951d 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: .
   specs:
-    code_ownership (1.29.2)
+    code_ownership (1.29.3)
       code_teams (~> 1.0)
       packs
       sorbet-runtime
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ GEM
     coderay (1.1.3)
     diff-lcs (1.4.4)
     method_source (1.0.0)
-    packs (0.0.5)
+    packs (0.0.6)
       sorbet-runtime
     parser (3.1.2.0)
       ast (~> 2.4.1)
diff --git a/code_ownership.gemspec b/code_ownership.gemspec
index 5755328..322a0d1 100644
--- a/code_ownership.gemspec
+++ b/code_ownership.gemspec
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.name          = "code_ownership"
-  spec.version       = '1.29.2'
+  spec.version       = '1.29.3'
   spec.authors       = ['Gusto Engineers']
   spec.email         = ['dev@gusto.com']
   spec.summary       = 'A gem to help engineering teams declare ownership of code'
diff --git a/lib/code_ownership.rb b/lib/code_ownership.rb
index 457c6db..24c0ab3 100644
--- a/lib/code_ownership.rb
+++ b/lib/code_ownership.rb
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ def for_team(team)
         ownership_information += ownership_for_mapper
       end
 
-      
       ownership_information << ""
     end
 
@@ -93,7 +92,25 @@ def validate!(
   # first line that corresponds to a file with assigned ownership
   sig { params(backtrace: T.nilable(T::Array[String]), excluded_teams: T::Array[::CodeTeams::Team]).returns(T.nilable(::CodeTeams::Team)) }
   def for_backtrace(backtrace, excluded_teams: [])
-    return unless backtrace
+    first_owned_file_for_backtrace(backtrace, excluded_teams: excluded_teams)&.first
+  end
+
+  # Given a backtrace from either `Exception#backtrace` or `caller`, find the
+  # first owned file in it, useful for figuring out which file is being blamed.
+  sig { params(backtrace: T.nilable(T::Array[String]), excluded_teams: T::Array[::CodeTeams::Team]).returns(T.nilable([::CodeTeams::Team, String])) }
+  def first_owned_file_for_backtrace(backtrace, excluded_teams: [])
+    backtrace_with_ownership(backtrace).each do |(team, file)|
+      if team && !excluded_teams.include?(team)
+        return [team, file]
+      end
+    end
+
+    nil
+  end
+
+  sig { params(backtrace: T.nilable(T::Array[String])).returns(T::Enumerable[[T.nilable(::CodeTeams::Team), String]]) }
+  def backtrace_with_ownership(backtrace)
+    return [] unless backtrace
 
     # The pattern for a backtrace hasn't changed in forever and is considered
     # stable: https://github.com/ruby/ruby/blob/trunk/vm_backtrace.c#L303-L317
@@ -110,18 +127,19 @@ def for_backtrace(backtrace, excluded_teams: [])
         `(?<function>.*)' # Matches "`block (3 levels) in create'"
       \z}x
 
-    backtrace.each do |line|
+    backtrace.lazy.filter_map do |line|
       match = line.match(backtrace_line)
+      next unless match
 
-      if match
-        team = CodeOwnership.for_file(T.must(match[:file]))
-        if team && !excluded_teams.include?(team)
-          return team
-        end
-      end
+      file = T.must(match[:file])
+
+      [
+        CodeOwnership.for_file(file),
+        file,
+      ]
     end
-    nil
   end
+  private_class_method(:backtrace_with_ownership)
 
   sig { params(klass: T.nilable(T.any(Class, Module))).returns(T.nilable(::CodeTeams::Team)) }
   def for_class(klass)
diff --git a/spec/lib/code_ownership_spec.rb b/spec/lib/code_ownership_spec.rb
index 79bf417..e97eb6b 100644
--- a/spec/lib/code_ownership_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/code_ownership_spec.rb
@@ -705,22 +705,13 @@
   end
 
   describe '.for_backtrace' do
-    def prevent_false_positive!
-      # The above code should raise, and we should never arrive at this next expectation.
-      # This is just to protect against a case where we have a false-postive test because the above does not raise.
-      expect(true).to eq false # rubocop:disable RSpec/ExpectActual
-    end
-
     before do
       create_files_with_defined_classe
     end
 
     context 'excluded_teams is not passed in as an input parameter' do
       it 'finds the right team' do
-        begin # rubocop:disable Style/RedundantBegin
-          MyFile.raise_error
-          prevent_false_positive!
-        rescue StandardError => ex
+        expect { MyFile.raise_error }.to raise_error do |ex|
           expect(CodeOwnership.for_backtrace(ex.backtrace)).to eq CodeTeams.find('Bar')
         end
       end
@@ -728,10 +719,7 @@ def prevent_false_positive!
 
     context 'excluded_teams is passed in as an input parameter' do
       it 'ignores the first part of the stack trace and finds the next viable owner' do
-        begin # rubocop:disable Style/RedundantBegin
-          MyFile.raise_error
-          prevent_false_positive!
-        rescue StandardError => ex
+        expect { MyFile.raise_error }.to raise_error do |ex|
           team_to_exclude = CodeTeams.find('Bar')
           expect(CodeOwnership.for_backtrace(ex.backtrace, excluded_teams: [team_to_exclude])).to eq CodeTeams.find('Foo')
         end
@@ -739,6 +727,38 @@ def prevent_false_positive!
     end
   end
 
+  describe '.first_owned_file_for_backtrace' do
+    before do
+      create_files_with_defined_classe
+    end
+
+
+    context 'excluded_teams is not passed in as an input parameter' do
+      it 'finds the right team' do
+        expect { MyFile.raise_error }.to raise_error do |ex|
+          expect(CodeOwnership.first_owned_file_for_backtrace(ex.backtrace)).to eq [CodeTeams.find('Bar'), 'app/my_error.rb']
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'excluded_teams is not passed in as an input parameter' do
+      it 'finds the right team' do
+        expect { MyFile.raise_error }.to raise_error do |ex|
+          team_to_exclude = CodeTeams.find('Bar')
+          expect(CodeOwnership.first_owned_file_for_backtrace(ex.backtrace, excluded_teams: [team_to_exclude])).to eq [CodeTeams.find('Foo'), 'app/my_file.rb']
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'when nothing is owned' do
+      it 'returns nil' do
+        expect { raise 'opsy' }.to raise_error do |ex|
+          expect(CodeOwnership.first_owned_file_for_backtrace(ex.backtrace)).to be_nil
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   describe '.for_class' do
     before { create_files_with_defined_classe }