diff --git a/man/homectl.xml b/man/homectl.xml
index 184bdcf6fd0..f2858166f7b 100644
--- a/man/homectl.xml
+++ b/man/homectl.xml
@@ -846,6 +846,10 @@
     <title>Exit status</title>
 
     <para>On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code otherwise.</para>
+
+    <para>When a command is invoked with <command>with</command>, the exit status of the child is
+    propagated. Effectively, <command>homectl</command> will exit without error if the command is
+    successfully invoked <emphasis>and</emphasis> finishes successfully.</para>
   </refsect1>
 
   <xi:include href="common-variables.xml" />
diff --git a/src/home/homectl.c b/src/home/homectl.c
index cf1a2d9f9bb..a187a75d863 100644
--- a/src/home/homectl.c
+++ b/src/home/homectl.c
@@ -3362,4 +3362,4 @@ static int run(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         return dispatch_verb(argc, argv, verbs, NULL);
 }
 
-DEFINE_MAIN_FUNCTION(run);
+DEFINE_MAIN_FUNCTION_WITH_POSITIVE_FAILURE(run);
diff --git a/test/units/testsuite-46.sh b/test/units/testsuite-46.sh
index 5390acabf30..570780030be 100755
--- a/test/units/testsuite-46.sh
+++ b/test/units/testsuite-46.sh
@@ -66,11 +66,15 @@ inspect test-user
 PASSWORD=xEhErW0ndafV4s homectl deactivate test-user
 inspect test-user
 
-! PASSWORD=xEhErW0ndafV4s homectl with test-user -- test -f /home/test-user/xyz
+PASSWORD=xEhErW0ndafV4s homectl with test-user -- test ! -f /home/test-user/xyz
+PASSWORD=xEhErW0ndafV4s homectl with test-user -- test -f /home/test-user/xyz \
+    && { echo 'unexpected success'; exit 1; }
 PASSWORD=xEhErW0ndafV4s homectl with test-user -- touch /home/test-user/xyz
 PASSWORD=xEhErW0ndafV4s homectl with test-user -- test -f /home/test-user/xyz
 PASSWORD=xEhErW0ndafV4s homectl with test-user -- rm /home/test-user/xyz
-! PASSWORD=xEhErW0ndafV4s homectl with test-user -- test -f /home/test-user/xyz
+PASSWORD=xEhErW0ndafV4s homectl with test-user -- test ! -f /home/test-user/xyz
+PASSWORD=xEhErW0ndafV4s homectl with test-user -- test -f /home/test-user/xyz \
+    && { echo 'unexpected success'; exit 1; }
 
 homectl remove test-user