diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/spec_helper.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/spec_helper.rb
index 179f6a5967..2fc3c960b1 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/test/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/spec_helper.rb
@@ -173,24 +173,25 @@ RSpec.configure do |config|
       @__argv = ARGV.dup
       @__env = ENV.to_hash # dup doesn't work on ENV
 
+      @__stdout = $stdout.clone
+      @__stderr = $stderr.clone
+
       unless example.metadata.key?(:focus) || ENV.key?("VERBOSE_TESTS")
-        @__stdout = $stdout.clone
-        @__stderr = $stderr.clone
         $stdout.reopen(File::NULL)
         $stderr.reopen(File::NULL)
       end
 
       example.run
+    rescue SystemExit => e
+      raise "Unexpected exit with status #{e.status}."
     ensure
       ARGV.replace(@__argv)
       ENV.replace(@__env)
 
-      unless example.metadata.key?(:focus) || ENV.key?("VERBOSE_TESTS")
-        $stdout.reopen(@__stdout)
-        $stderr.reopen(@__stderr)
-        @__stdout.close
-        @__stderr.close
-      end
+      $stdout.reopen(@__stdout)
+      $stderr.reopen(@__stderr)
+      @__stdout.close
+      @__stderr.close
 
       Formulary.clear_cache
       Tap.clear_cache