diff --git a/workspace_tools/build_release.py b/workspace_tools/build_release.py
index 09ca8f3ebb..f14575f8ee 100755
--- a/workspace_tools/build_release.py
+++ b/workspace_tools/build_release.py
@@ -126,3 +126,4 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     if failures:
         print "\n\nBuild failures:"
         print "\n".join(["  * %s" % f for f in failures])
+        sys.exit(1)