diff --git a/sigstore/_internal/fulcio/client.py b/sigstore/_internal/fulcio/client.py
index 062519186..ea7d9752c 100644
--- a/sigstore/_internal/fulcio/client.py
+++ b/sigstore/_internal/fulcio/client.py
@@ -36,10 +36,7 @@
 from cryptography.x509.certificate_transparency import SignedCertificateTimestamp
 
 from sigstore._internal import USER_AGENT
-from sigstore._internal.sct import (
-    UnexpectedSctCountException,
-    _get_precertificate_signed_certificate_timestamps,
-)
+from sigstore._internal.sct import get_signed_certificate_timestamp
 from sigstore._utils import B64Str
 from sigstore.oidc import IdentityToken
 
@@ -51,14 +48,6 @@
 TRUST_BUNDLE_ENDPOINT = "/api/v2/trustBundle"
 
 
-class FulcioSCTError(Exception):
-    """
-    Raised on errors when constructing a `FulcioSignedCertificateTimestamp`.
-    """
-
-    pass
-
-
 class ExpiredCertificate(Exception):
     """An error raised when the Certificate is expired."""
 
@@ -149,10 +138,8 @@ def post(
         chain = [load_pem_x509_certificate(c.encode()) for c in certificates[1:]]
 
         try:
-            # The SignedCertificateTimestamp should be accessed by the index 0
-            sct = _get_precertificate_signed_certificate_timestamps(cert)[0]
-
-        except UnexpectedSctCountException as ex:
+            sct = get_signed_certificate_timestamp(cert)
+        except ValueError as ex:
             raise FulcioClientError(ex)
 
         return FulcioCertificateSigningResponse(cert, chain, sct)
diff --git a/sigstore/_internal/sct.py b/sigstore/_internal/sct.py
index 8fd6cc5b2..c146de6c9 100644
--- a/sigstore/_internal/sct.py
+++ b/sigstore/_internal/sct.py
@@ -148,32 +148,27 @@ def _get_issuer_cert(chain: List[Certificate]) -> Certificate:
     return issuer
 
 
-class UnexpectedSctCountException(Exception):
-    """
-    Number of percerts scts is wrong
-    """
-
-    pass
-
-
-def _get_precertificate_signed_certificate_timestamps(
+def get_signed_certificate_timestamp(
     certificate: Certificate,
-) -> PrecertificateSignedCertificateTimestamps:
-    # Try to retrieve the embedded SCTs within the cert.
+) -> SignedCertificateTimestamp:
+    """Retrieve the embedded SCT from the certificate.
+
+    Raise ValueError if certificate does not contain exactly one SCT
+    """
     try:
-        precert_scts_extension = certificate.extensions.get_extension_for_class(
+        timestamps = certificate.extensions.get_extension_for_class(
             PrecertificateSignedCertificateTimestamps
         ).value
     except ExtensionNotFound:
         raise ValueError(
-            "No PrecertificateSignedCertificateTimestamps found for the certificate"
+            "Certificate does not contain a signed certificate timestamp extension"
         )
 
-    if len(precert_scts_extension) != 1:
-        raise UnexpectedSctCountException(
-            f"Unexpected embedded SCT count in response: {len(precert_scts_extension)} != 1"
+    if len(timestamps) != 1:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"Expected one certificate timestamp, found {len(timestamps)}."
         )
-    return precert_scts_extension
+    return timestamps[0]
 
 
 def _cert_is_ca(cert: Certificate) -> bool:
diff --git a/sigstore/verify/verifier.py b/sigstore/verify/verifier.py
index 59437caf1..bec76b647 100644
--- a/sigstore/verify/verifier.py
+++ b/sigstore/verify/verifier.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
 from sigstore._internal.rekor import _hashedrekord_from_parts
 from sigstore._internal.rekor.client import RekorClient
 from sigstore._internal.sct import (
-    _get_precertificate_signed_certificate_timestamps,
+    get_signed_certificate_timestamp,
     verify_sct,
 )
 from sigstore._internal.timestamp import TimestampSource, TimestampVerificationResult
@@ -339,15 +339,14 @@ def _verify_common_signing_cert(
             chain = self._verify_chain_at_time(cert_ossl, vts)
 
         # (2): verify the signing certificate's SCT.
-        sct = _get_precertificate_signed_certificate_timestamps(cert)[0]
         try:
             verify_sct(
-                sct,
+                get_signed_certificate_timestamp(cert),
                 cert,
                 [parent_cert.to_cryptography() for parent_cert in chain],
                 self._trusted_root.ct_keyring(KeyringPurpose.VERIFY),
             )
-        except VerificationError as e:
+        except (ValueError, VerificationError) as e:
             raise VerificationError(f"failed to verify SCT on signing certificate: {e}")
 
         # (3): verify the signing certificate against the Sigstore