diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 6a6b0af..2b32635 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ tests =
     %(markdown)s
     funcy>=1.17
     pytest==7.2.0
-    pytest-sugar==0.9.5
+    pytest-sugar>=0.9.6,<1.0
     pytest-cov==3.0.0
     pytest-mock==3.8.2
     pylint==2.15.0
diff --git a/src/dvc_render/vega_templates.py b/src/dvc_render/vega_templates.py
index 7e2f0dd..1ad556a 100644
--- a/src/dvc_render/vega_templates.py
+++ b/src/dvc_render/vega_templates.py
@@ -64,7 +64,8 @@ def list_replace_value(l: list, name: str, value: str) -> list:  # noqa: E741
 def dict_find_value(d: dict, value: str) -> bool:
     for v in d.values():
         if isinstance(v, dict):
-            return dict_find_value(v, value)
+            if dict_find_value(v, value):
+                return True
         if isinstance(v, str):
             if v == value:
                 return True
diff --git a/tests/test_vega.py b/tests/test_vega.py
index 69e111e..1dbcb8b 100644
--- a/tests/test_vega.py
+++ b/tests/test_vega.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import json
+
 import pytest
 
 from dvc_render.vega import BadTemplateError, VegaRenderer
@@ -103,11 +105,29 @@ def test_confusion():
     assert plot_content["spec"]["encoding"]["y"]["field"] == "actual"
 
 
-def test_bad_template():
+def test_bad_template_on_init():
     with pytest.raises(BadTemplateError):
         Template("name", "content")
 
 
+def test_bad_template_on_missing_data(tmp_dir):
+    template_content = {"data": {"values": "BAD_ANCHOR"}}
+    tmp_dir.gen("bar.json", json.dumps(template_content))
+    datapoints = [{"val": 2}, {"val": 3}]
+    renderer = VegaRenderer(datapoints, "foo", template="bar.json")
+
+    with pytest.raises(BadTemplateError):
+        renderer.get_filled_template()
+
+    template_content = {
+        "mark": {"type": "bar"},
+        "data": {"values": Template.anchor("data")},
+    }
+    tmp_dir.gen("bar.json", json.dumps(template_content))
+    renderer = VegaRenderer(datapoints, "foo", template="bar.json")
+    assert renderer.get_filled_template()
+
+
 def test_raise_on_wrong_field():
     datapoints = [{"val": 2}, {"val": 3}]
     props = {"x": "no_val"}