diff --git a/shell/wrapper/src/main/resources/org/apache/karaf/shell/wrapper/unix/karaf-service b/shell/wrapper/src/main/resources/org/apache/karaf/shell/wrapper/unix/karaf-service
index 275f9b1..f5adf71 100755
--- a/shell/wrapper/src/main/resources/org/apache/karaf/shell/wrapper/unix/karaf-service
+++ b/shell/wrapper/src/main/resources/org/apache/karaf/shell/wrapper/unix/karaf-service
@@ -326,6 +326,7 @@ checkUser() {
         # Still want to change users, recurse.  This means that the user will only be
         #  prompted for a password once.
         su -m $RUN_AS_USER -s /bin/sh -c "$REALPATH $1"
+        RETVAL=$?
 
         # Now that we are the original user again, we may need to clean up the lock file.
         if [ "X$LOCKPROP" != "X" ]
@@ -341,7 +342,7 @@ checkUser() {
             fi
         fi
 
-        exit 0
+        exit $RETVAL
     fi
 }