diff --git a/tests/zxpy_test.py b/tests/zxpy_test.py
index 2da8834..d819cb4 100644
--- a/tests/zxpy_test.py
+++ b/tests/zxpy_test.py
@@ -76,3 +76,10 @@ def test_prints(capsys: pytest.CaptureFixture[str]) -> None:
 def test_argv() -> None:
     test_file = "./tests/test_files/argv.py"
     subprocess.run(["zxpy", test_file])
+
+
+def test_raise() -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(ChildProcessError) as exc:
+        zx.run_shell("exit 1")
+
+    assert exc.value.args == (1,)
diff --git a/zx.py b/zx.py
index 3b5f18f..afd8cb2 100644
--- a/zx.py
+++ b/zx.py
@@ -59,8 +59,15 @@ def cli() -> None:
 def create_shell_process(command: str) -> IO[bytes]:
     """Creates a shell process, returning its stdout to read data from."""
     process = subprocess.Popen(
-        command, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, shell=True
+        command,
+        stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+        stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
+        shell=True,
     )
+    process.wait()
+    if process.returncode != 0:
+        raise ChildProcessError(process.returncode)
+
     assert process.stdout is not None
     return process.stdout