diff --git a/src/bindgen.rs b/src/bindgen.rs
index a1a1e5ff..715bcfa5 100644
--- a/src/bindgen.rs
+++ b/src/bindgen.rs
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ pub fn cargo_install_wasm_bindgen(crate_path: &Path, version: &str) -> Result<()
         Err(Error::Cli {
             message,
             stderr: s.to_string(),
+            exit_status: output.status,
         })
     } else {
         assert!(binaries::local_bin_path(crate_path, "wasm-bindgen").is_file());
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ pub fn wasm_bindgen_build(
         let output = cmd.output()?;
         if !output.status.success() {
             let s = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
-            Error::cli("wasm-bindgen failed to execute properly", s)
+            Error::cli("wasm-bindgen failed to execute properly", s, output.status)
         } else {
             Ok(())
         }
diff --git a/src/build.rs b/src/build.rs
index aeee4109..928fc32e 100644
--- a/src/build.rs
+++ b/src/build.rs
@@ -64,7 +64,11 @@ pub fn rustup_add_wasm_target(step: &Step) -> Result<(), Error> {
         .output()?;
     if !output.status.success() {
         let s = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
-        Error::cli("Adding the wasm32-unknown-unknown target failed", s)
+        Error::cli(
+            "Adding the wasm32-unknown-unknown target failed",
+            s,
+            output.status,
+        )
     } else {
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -74,19 +78,17 @@ pub fn rustup_add_wasm_target(step: &Step) -> Result<(), Error> {
 pub fn cargo_build_wasm(path: &Path, debug: bool, step: &Step) -> Result<(), Error> {
     let msg = format!("{}Compiling to WASM...", emoji::CYCLONE);
     PBAR.step(step, &msg);
-    let output = {
-        let mut cmd = Command::new("cargo");
-        cmd.current_dir(path).arg("build").arg("--lib");
-        if !debug {
-            cmd.arg("--release");
-        }
-        cmd.arg("--target").arg("wasm32-unknown-unknown");
-        cmd.output()?
-    };
+    let mut cmd = Command::new("cargo");
+    cmd.current_dir(path).arg("build").arg("--lib");
+    if !debug {
+        cmd.arg("--release");
+    }
+    cmd.arg("--target").arg("wasm32-unknown-unknown");
+    let output = cmd.output()?;
 
     if !output.status.success() {
         let s = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
-        Error::cli("Compilation of your program failed", s)
+        Error::cli("Compilation of your program failed", s, output.status)
     } else {
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -106,7 +108,7 @@ pub fn cargo_build_wasm_tests(path: &Path, debug: bool) -> Result<(), Error> {
 
     if !output.status.success() {
         let s = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
-        Error::cli("Compilation of your program failed", s)
+        Error::cli("Compilation of your program failed", s, output.status)
     } else {
         Ok(())
     }
diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index c5c20e7c..5b65d00e 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use curl;
 use serde_json;
 use std::borrow::Cow;
 use std::io;
+use std::process::ExitStatus;
 use toml;
 use zip;
 
@@ -46,12 +47,19 @@ pub enum Error {
     },
 
     /// An error invoking another CLI tool.
-    #[fail(display = "{}. stderr:\n\n{}", message, stderr)]
+    #[fail(
+        display = "Process exited with {}: {}. stderr:\n\n{}",
+        exit_status,
+        message,
+        stderr
+    )]
     Cli {
         /// Error message.
         message: String,
         /// The underlying CLI's `stderr` output.
         stderr: String,
+        /// The exit status of the subprocess
+        exit_status: ExitStatus,
     },
 
     /// A crate configuration error.
@@ -93,10 +101,11 @@ pub enum Error {
 
 impl Error {
     /// Construct a CLI error.
-    pub fn cli(message: &str, stderr: Cow<str>) -> Result<(), Self> {
+    pub fn cli(message: &str, stderr: Cow<str>, exit_status: ExitStatus) -> Result<(), Self> {
         Err(Error::Cli {
             message: message.to_string(),
             stderr: stderr.to_string(),
+            exit_status,
         })
     }
 
@@ -153,6 +162,7 @@ impl Error {
             Error::Cli {
                 message: _,
                 stderr: _,
+                exit_status: _,
             } => "There was an error while calling another CLI tool. Details:\n\n",
             Error::CrateConfig { message: _ } => {
                 "There was a crate configuration error. Details:\n\n"
diff --git a/src/npm.rs b/src/npm.rs
index 059480c9..d17fccbc 100644
--- a/src/npm.rs
+++ b/src/npm.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ pub fn npm_pack(path: &str) -> Result<(), Error> {
     let output = Command::new("npm").current_dir(path).arg("pack").output()?;
     if !output.status.success() {
         let s = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
-        Error::cli("Packaging up your code failed", s)
+        Error::cli("Packaging up your code failed", s, output.status)
     } else {
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ pub fn npm_publish(path: &str, access: Option<Access>) -> Result<(), Error> {
 
     if !output.status.success() {
         let s = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
-        Error::cli("Publishing to npm failed", s)
+        Error::cli("Publishing to npm failed", s, output.status)
     } else {
         Ok(())
     }
@@ -76,7 +76,11 @@ pub fn npm_login(
 
     if !output.status.success() {
         let s = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
-        Error::cli(&format!("Login to registry {} failed", registry), s)
+        Error::cli(
+            &format!("Login to registry {} failed", registry),
+            s,
+            output.status,
+        )
     } else {
         Ok(())
     }
diff --git a/src/test/mod.rs b/src/test/mod.rs
index d182ffdd..f30100fd 100644
--- a/src/test/mod.rs
+++ b/src/test/mod.rs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ where
 
     if !output.status.success() {
         let s = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
-        Error::cli("Running wasm tests failed", s)
+        Error::cli("Running wasm tests failed", s, output.status)
     } else {
         for line in String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout).lines() {
             info!(log, "test output: {}", line);