diff --git a/regtest/scripts/run b/regtest/scripts/run
index 2c60d8d1f7e97ca67cd6c01508646cfe641a83e3..66107ebb16b133cd6c6c289ff89608b87f429ba6 100755
--- a/regtest/scripts/run
+++ b/regtest/scripts/run
@@ -127,8 +127,12 @@ case "$type" in
 (plumed)
   $mpi $valgrind $plumed $arg > out 2> err
   ;;
-(*) echo "unknown test type" ; exit 1 ;;
+(*) echo "FAILURE: unknown test type" ; exit 1 ;;
 esac
+exitcode="$?"
+if test $exitcode -ne 0 ; then
+  echo "FAILURE: exit code $exitcode"
+fi
 
 if type -t plumed_regtest_after 1>/dev/null ; then
   plumed_regtest_after