diff --git a/tools/power/x86/turbostat/turbostat.c b/tools/power/x86/turbostat/turbostat.c
index 33c79e415075..532e7bf06868 100644
--- a/tools/power/x86/turbostat/turbostat.c
+++ b/tools/power/x86/turbostat/turbostat.c
@@ -3089,6 +3089,9 @@ int fork_it(char **argv)
 		signal(SIGQUIT, SIG_IGN);
 		if (waitpid(child_pid, &status, 0) == -1)
 			err(status, "waitpid");
+
+		if (WIFEXITED(status))
+			status = WEXITSTATUS(status);
 	}
 	/*
 	 * n.b. fork_it() does not check for errors from for_all_cpus()