diff --git a/std/build.zig b/std/build.zig
index de319197a4ba01b31e04b752c82b7487f5229f26..425763da9631f75ff112aa18794d7ed0f628616d 100644
--- a/std/build.zig
+++ b/std/build.zig
@@ -769,14 +769,14 @@ pub const Builder = struct {
                 if (code != 0) {
                     warn("The following command exited with error code {}:\n", code);
                     printCmd(null, argv);
-                    std.debug.panic("exec failed");
+                    std.os.exit(@truncate(u8, code));
                 }
                 return stdout.toOwnedSlice();
             },
-            else => {
+            .Signal, .Stopped, .Unknown => |code| {
                 warn("The following command terminated unexpectedly:\n");
                 printCmd(null, argv);
-                std.debug.panic("exec failed");
+                std.os.exit(@truncate(u8, code));
             },
         }