diff --git a/tools/run_tests/run_tests.py b/tools/run_tests/run_tests.py
index 2d12adebbb6..47f949bdf3f 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/run_tests.py
+++ b/tools/run_tests/run_tests.py
@@ -862,6 +862,7 @@ def _build_and_run(
   port_server_port = 32767
   _start_port_server(port_server_port)
   resultset = None
+  num_test_failures = 0
   try:
     infinite_runs = runs_per_test == 0
     one_run = set(
@@ -885,7 +886,7 @@ def _build_and_run(
                      else itertools.repeat(massaged_one_run, runs_per_test))
     all_runs = itertools.chain.from_iterable(runs_sequence)
 
-    number_failures, resultset = jobset.run(
+    num_test_failures, resultset = jobset.run(
         all_runs, check_cancelled, newline_on_success=newline_on_success,
         travis=args.travis, infinite_runs=infinite_runs, maxjobs=args.jobs,
         stop_on_failure=args.stop_on_failure,
@@ -902,8 +903,6 @@ def _build_and_run(
               do_newline=True)
         else:
           jobset.message('PASSED', k, do_newline=True)
-    if number_failures:
-      return 2
   finally:
     for antagonist in antagonists:
       antagonist.kill()
@@ -913,8 +912,8 @@ def _build_and_run(
   number_failures, _ = jobset.run(
       post_tests_steps, maxjobs=1, stop_on_failure=True,
       newline_on_success=newline_on_success, travis=args.travis)
-  if number_failures:
-    return 3
+  if num_test_failures or number_failures:
+    return 2
 
   if cache: cache.save()