diff --git a/Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-test-bot.rb b/Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-test-bot.rb
index f9fadd6e54..b58695a7e0 100755
--- a/Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-test-bot.rb
+++ b/Library/Contributions/cmd/brew-test-bot.rb
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ require 'utils'
 require 'date'
 require 'erb'
 
+EMAIL_SUBJECT_FILE = "brew-test-bot.email.txt"
 HOMEBREW_CONTRIBUTED_CMDS = HOMEBREW_REPOSITORY + "Library/Contributions/cmd/"
 
 class Step
@@ -353,6 +354,12 @@ if Pathname.pwd == HOMEBREW_PREFIX and ARGV.include? "--cleanup"
   odie 'cannot use --cleanup from HOMEBREW_PREFIX as it will delete all output.'
 end
 
+if ARGV.include? "--email"
+  File.open EMAIL_SUBJECT_FILE, 'w' do |file|
+    file.write "FAILED"
+  end
+end
+
 tests = []
 any_errors = false
 if ARGV.named.empty?
@@ -392,7 +399,7 @@ if ARGV.include? "--email"
     email_subject = "#{failed_steps.join ', '}"
   end
 
-  File.open "brew-test-bot.email.txt", 'w' do |file|
+  File.open EMAIL_SUBJECT_FILE, 'w' do |file|
     file.write email_subject
   end
 end