diff --git a/urjtag/ChangeLog b/urjtag/ChangeLog
index 34f43dc8..5b78435c 100644
--- a/urjtag/ChangeLog
+++ b/urjtag/ChangeLog
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
   * src/tap/cable/jlink.c (jlink_debug_buffer): Unify log lines to avoid
     printf format security warnings.
 
+  * src/cmd/cmd_shell.c (cmd_shell_run): Log non-zero shell exit status.
+
 2010-01-21  Jie Zhang  <jie.zhang@analog.com>
 
   * src/apps/jtag/jtag.c (main): Don't trigger open file error
diff --git a/urjtag/src/cmd/cmd_shell.c b/urjtag/src/cmd/cmd_shell.c
index e80b6816..d608702b 100644
--- a/urjtag/src/cmd/cmd_shell.c
+++ b/urjtag/src/cmd/cmd_shell.c
@@ -78,9 +78,12 @@ cmd_shell_run (urj_chain_t *chain, char *params[])
     }
     urj_log (URJ_LOG_LEVEL_NORMAL, "Executing '%s'\n", shell_cmd);
 
-    system (shell_cmd);
+    i = system (shell_cmd);
     free (shell_cmd);
 
+    if (i)
+        urj_log (URJ_LOG_LEVEL_NORMAL, "shell returned %i\n", i);
+
     return URJ_STATUS_OK;
 }