diff --git a/zcutil/make-release.py b/zcutil/make-release.py
index 449d4d557..e3c81fe80 100755
--- a/zcutil/make-release.py
+++ b/zcutil/make-release.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def main(args=sys.argv[1:]):
         raise SystemExit(1)
     except:
         logging.error(traceback.format_exc())
-        raise
+        raise SystemExit(2)
 
 
 # Top-level flow: