diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/DefaultMaven.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/DefaultMaven.java
index 9f998b0197..6b64748d5c 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/DefaultMaven.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/DefaultMaven.java
@@ -142,6 +142,9 @@ public class DefaultMaven
 
                     line();
                 }
+
+                // An exception is a failure
+                return response;
             }
         }