diff --git a/libs/linglong/src/linglong/cli/cli.cpp b/libs/linglong/src/linglong/cli/cli.cpp
index 54ec98d86..72f851b47 100644
--- a/libs/linglong/src/linglong/cli/cli.cpp
+++ b/libs/linglong/src/linglong/cli/cli.cpp
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
 #include "linglong/utils/terminal/terminal_guard.h"
 #include "linglong/utils/unique_fd.h"
 #include "linglong/utils/xdp.h"
+#include "ocppi/cli/CommandFailedError.hpp"
 #include "ocppi/runtime/ExecOption.hpp"
 #include "ocppi/runtime/RunOption.hpp" // IWYU pragma: keep
 #include "ocppi/types/ContainerListItem.hpp"
@@ -1210,11 +1211,14 @@ utils::error::Result<int> Cli::reuseContainer(const std::string &id,
         auto result =
           ociCLI.exec(id, "/run/linglong/container-init", reuseCommand, ioSetup->option);
         if (!result) {
-            // TODO: modify ocppi to expose CommandFailedError::exitStatus()
-            // so that non-zero exit codes from reused commands are preserved
-            // instead of collapsed to EXIT_FAILURE.
             LogE("failed to exec container: {}", LINGLONG_ERRV(result));
-            _exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+            try {
+                std::rethrow_exception(result.error());
+            } catch (const ocppi::cli::CommandFailedError &e) {
+                _exit(e.exitStatus());
+            } catch (...) {
+                _exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+            }
         }
 
         _exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
@@ -1987,7 +1991,13 @@ int Cli::enter(const EnterOptions &options)
     if (!result) {
         auto err = LINGLONG_ERRV(result);
         this->printer.printErr(err);
-        return -1;
+        try {
+            std::rethrow_exception(result.error());
+        } catch (const ocppi::cli::CommandFailedError &e) {
+            return e.exitStatus();
+        } catch (...) {
+            return -1;
+        }
     }
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/libs/linglong/tests/ll-tests/src/ocppi/cli/common_cli_test.cpp b/libs/linglong/tests/ll-tests/src/ocppi/cli/common_cli_test.cpp
index bdebf44fc..4659af5b5 100644
--- a/libs/linglong/tests/ll-tests/src/ocppi/cli/common_cli_test.cpp
+++ b/libs/linglong/tests/ll-tests/src/ocppi/cli/common_cli_test.cpp
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 
 #include "../../common/tempdir.h"
+#include "ocppi/cli/CommandFailedError.hpp"
 #include "ocppi/cli/crun/Crun.hpp"
+#include "ocppi/runtime/ExecOption.hpp"
 #include "ocppi/runtime/ListOption.hpp"
 #include "ocppi/types/ContainerListItem.hpp"
 
@@ -56,3 +58,37 @@ TEST(CommonCLITest, ListForcesJsonOutput)
     };
     EXPECT_EQ(arguments, expectedArguments);
 }
+
+TEST(CommonCLITest, ExecPreservesCommandExitStatus)
+{
+    TempDir tempDir("ocppi-common-cli-");
+
+    const auto runtimePath = tempDir.path() / "runtime";
+    {
+        std::ofstream runtime(runtimePath);
+        ASSERT_TRUE(runtime.is_open());
+        runtime << "#!/bin/sh\n"
+                   "exit 42\n";
+    }
+    std::filesystem::permissions(runtimePath,
+                                 std::filesystem::perms::owner_read
+                                   | std::filesystem::perms::owner_write
+                                   | std::filesystem::perms::owner_exec,
+                                 std::filesystem::perm_options::replace);
+
+    auto cli = ocppi::cli::crun::Crun::New(runtimePath);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(cli.has_value());
+
+    ocppi::runtime::ExecOption option{};
+    auto result = cli.value()->exec(ocppi::runtime::ContainerID{ "test" }, "/bin/true", {}, option);
+    ASSERT_FALSE(result.has_value());
+
+    try {
+        std::rethrow_exception(result.error());
+        FAIL() << "expected CommandFailedError to be thrown";
+    } catch (const ocppi::cli::CommandFailedError &e) {
+        EXPECT_EQ(e.exitStatus(), 42);
+    } catch (...) {
+        FAIL() << "expected CommandFailedError";
+    }
+}
diff --git a/libs/ocppi/include/ocppi/cli/CommandFailedError.hpp b/libs/ocppi/include/ocppi/cli/CommandFailedError.hpp
index e2057827f..1a98080fa 100644
--- a/libs/ocppi/include/ocppi/cli/CommandFailedError.hpp
+++ b/libs/ocppi/include/ocppi/cli/CommandFailedError.hpp
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #pragma once
 
+#include <sys/wait.h>
+
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include <string>
 
@@ -11,16 +13,38 @@ class CommandFailedError : public std::runtime_error {
 
         static constexpr const char *prefix = "run command failed: ";
 
+        [[nodiscard]]
+        static auto exitCode(int ret) noexcept -> int
+        {
+                if (WIFEXITED(ret)) {
+                        return WEXITSTATUS(ret);
+                }
+                if (WIFSIGNALED(ret)) {
+                        return WTERMSIG(ret) + 128;
+                }
+                return ret;
+        }
+
     public:
         explicit CommandFailedError(int ret, const std::string &command)
                 : std::runtime_error(prefix + command +
-                                     " retval=" + std::to_string(ret))
+                                     " retval=" + std::to_string(exitCode(ret)))
+                , ret_(exitCode(ret))
         {
         }
         explicit CommandFailedError(int ret, const char *arg)
                 : CommandFailedError(ret, std::string(arg))
         {
         }
+
+        [[nodiscard]]
+        auto exitStatus() const noexcept -> int
+        {
+                return this->ret_;
+        }
+
+    private:
+        int ret_{ 0 };
 };
 
 }