diff --git a/git-remote-testgit b/git-remote-testgit
index 5fd09f965a..ff36d1d39d 100755
--- a/git-remote-testgit
+++ b/git-remote-testgit
@@ -97,7 +97,12 @@ do
 		while read ref a b
 		do
 			test $a == $b && continue
-			echo "ok $ref"
+			if test -z "$GIT_REMOTE_TESTGIT_PUSH_ERROR"
+			then
+				echo "ok $ref"
+			else
+				echo "error $ref $GIT_REMOTE_TESTGIT_PUSH_ERROR"
+			fi
 		done
 
 		echo
diff --git a/t/t5801-remote-helpers.sh b/t/t5801-remote-helpers.sh
index 0b13d10698..443e228ec5 100755
--- a/t/t5801-remote-helpers.sh
+++ b/t/t5801-remote-helpers.sh
@@ -167,6 +167,20 @@ test_expect_success 'push update refs' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'push update refs failure' '
+	(cd local &&
+	git checkout update &&
+	echo "update fail" >>file &&
+	git commit -a -m "update fail" &&
+	git rev-parse --verify testgit/origin/heads/update >expect &&
+	GIT_REMOTE_TESTGIT_PUSH_ERROR="non-fast forward" &&
+	export GIT_REMOTE_TESTGIT_PUSH_ERROR &&
+	test_expect_code 1 git push origin update &&
+	git rev-parse --verify testgit/origin/heads/update >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'proper failure checks for fetching' '
 	(GIT_REMOTE_TESTGIT_FAILURE=1 &&
 	export GIT_REMOTE_TESTGIT_FAILURE &&
diff --git a/transport-helper.c b/transport-helper.c
index 92174095ed..6cd0be90e0 100644
--- a/transport-helper.c
+++ b/transport-helper.c
@@ -701,7 +701,7 @@ static int push_update_ref_status(struct strbuf *buf,
 
 	(*ref)->status = status;
 	(*ref)->remote_status = msg;
-	return 0;
+	return !(status == REF_STATUS_OK);
 }
 
 static void push_update_refs_status(struct helper_data *data,