diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index d7c29f3..9880e3a 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@ A simple VTE-based terminal.
 Termite looks for ``termite.cfg`` in ``$XDG_CONFIG_HOME`` (or ``~/.config`` if
 unset) and then falls back to ``$XDG_CONFIG_DIRS``.
 
+Termite's exit status is 1 on a failure, including a termination of the child
+process from an uncaught signal. Otherwise the exit status is that of the child
+process.
+
 DEPENDENCIES
 ============
 
diff --git a/termite.cc b/termite.cc
index e2981c3..9e2c66d 100644
--- a/termite.cc
+++ b/termite.cc
@@ -1147,8 +1147,13 @@ static void load_config(GtkWindow *window, VteTerminal *vte, config_info *info,
 }/*}}}*/
 
 static void exit_with_status(VteTerminal *vte) {
+    int status = vte_terminal_get_child_exit_status(vte);
     gtk_main_quit();
-    exit(vte_terminal_get_child_exit_status(vte));
+    if (WIFEXITED(status)) {
+        exit(WEXITSTATUS(status));
+    } else {
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE); // child did not exit normally
+    }
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char **argv) {