diff --git a/integration/lerna-publish-lifecycle-errors.test.js b/integration/lerna-publish-lifecycle-errors.test.js
index 2e8eb5921d..306bf459ae 100644
--- a/integration/lerna-publish-lifecycle-errors.test.js
+++ b/integration/lerna-publish-lifecycle-errors.test.js
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ test("lerna publish lifecycle scripts stop on non-zero exit", async () => {
   const json = await fs.readJson(rootManifest);
 
   json.scripts.preversion = "echo boom && exit 123";
-  // console.log(json);
 
   await fs.writeJson(rootManifest, json);
   await gitAdd(cwd, rootManifest);
@@ -56,11 +55,7 @@ lerna info Looking for changed packages since initial commit.
 lerna info auto-confirmed 
 lerna info lifecycle lifecycle@0.0.0-monorepo~preversion: lifecycle@0.0.0-monorepo
 lerna info lifecycle lifecycle@0.0.0-monorepo~preversion: Failed to exec preversion script
-lerna ERR! lifecycle "preversion" errored in "lifecycle", ejecting
-lerna ERR! exited 123 in 'lifecycle'
-lerna ERR! exited 123 in 'lifecycle'
-lerna ERR! exited 123 in 'lifecycle'
-lerna ERR! exited 123 in 'lifecycle'
+lerna ERR! lifecycle "preversion" errored in "lifecycle", exiting 123
 
 `);
   }
diff --git a/utils/run-lifecycle/__tests__/run-lifecycle.test.js b/utils/run-lifecycle/__tests__/run-lifecycle.test.js
index 28ee6b00c5..f5fb32a39c 100644
--- a/utils/run-lifecycle/__tests__/run-lifecycle.test.js
+++ b/utils/run-lifecycle/__tests__/run-lifecycle.test.js
@@ -94,11 +94,12 @@ describe("createRunner", () => {
   });
 
   it("logs script error and re-throws", async () => {
-    npmLifecycle.mockImplementationOnce(() => {
+    npmLifecycle.mockImplementationOnce(({ scripts }, stage) => {
       const err = new Error("boom");
 
       // https://git.io/fAE3f
       err.errno = 123;
+      err.script = scripts[stage];
 
       return Promise.reject(err);
     });
@@ -107,17 +108,46 @@ describe("createRunner", () => {
       name: "has-script-error",
       version: "1.0.0",
       location: "test",
-      scripts: { prepublishOnly: "exit 1" },
+      scripts: { prepublishOnly: "exit 123" },
     };
 
     try {
       await runPackageLifecycle(pkg, "prepublishOnly");
     } catch (err) {
-      expect(err.pkg).toBe(pkg);
+      expect(err.code).toBe(123);
+      expect(err.script).toBe("exit 123");
       expect(process.exitCode).toBe(123);
     }
 
     const [errorLog] = loggingOutput("error");
-    expect(errorLog).toMatch('"prepublishOnly" errored in "has-script-error", ejecting');
+    expect(errorLog).toBe('"prepublishOnly" errored in "has-script-error", exiting 123');
+  });
+
+  it("defaults error exit code to 1", async () => {
+    npmLifecycle.mockImplementationOnce(({ scripts }, stage) => {
+      const err = new Error("kersplode");
+
+      // errno only gets added when a proc closes, not from error
+      err.script = scripts[stage];
+
+      return Promise.reject(err);
+    });
+
+    const pkg = {
+      name: "has-execution-error",
+      version: "1.0.0",
+      location: "test",
+      scripts: { prepack: "a-thing-that-ends-poorly" },
+    };
+
+    try {
+      await runPackageLifecycle(pkg, "prepack");
+    } catch (err) {
+      expect(err.code).toBe(1);
+      expect(err.script).toBe("a-thing-that-ends-poorly");
+    }
+
+    const [errorLog] = loggingOutput("error");
+    expect(errorLog).toBe('"prepack" errored in "has-execution-error", exiting 1');
   });
 });
diff --git a/utils/run-lifecycle/run-lifecycle.js b/utils/run-lifecycle/run-lifecycle.js
index 3736c1f999..2174dd5355 100644
--- a/utils/run-lifecycle/run-lifecycle.js
+++ b/utils/run-lifecycle/run-lifecycle.js
@@ -37,20 +37,20 @@ function runLifecycle(pkg, stage, opts) {
   }).then(
     () => pkg,
     err => {
-      // error logging has already occurred on stderr, but we need to stop the chain
-      log.error("lifecycle", "%j errored in %j, ejecting", stage, pkg.name);
+      // propagate the exit code
+      const exitCode = err.errno || 1;
 
-      // ensure clean logging...
-      err.pkg = pkg;
+      // error logging has already occurred on stderr, but we need to stop the chain
+      log.error("lifecycle", "%j errored in %j, exiting %d", stage, pkg.name, exitCode);
 
-      // ...propagate the exit code...
-      const exitCode = err.errno;
+      // ensure clean logging, avoiding spurious log dump
+      err.name = "ValidationError";
 
-      // (using the property our yargs.fail() handler expects :P)
+      // our yargs.fail() handler expects a numeric .code, not .errno
       err.code = exitCode;
       process.exitCode = exitCode;
 
-      // ...and send it on its merry way
+      // stop the chain
       throw err;
     }
   );