diff --git a/src/firejail/join.c b/src/firejail/join.c
index 394bbb52891..e07e149ca12 100644
--- a/src/firejail/join.c
+++ b/src/firejail/join.c
@@ -536,7 +536,6 @@ void join(pid_t pid, int argc, char **argv, int index) {
 		prctl(PR_SET_PDEATHSIG, SIGKILL, 0, 0, 0);
 
 #ifdef HAVE_APPARMOR
-		// add apparmor confinement after the execve
 		set_apparmor();
 #endif
 
@@ -601,9 +600,9 @@ void join(pid_t pid, int argc, char **argv, int index) {
 	if (WIFEXITED(status)) {
 		status = WEXITSTATUS(status);
 	} else if (WIFSIGNALED(status)) {
-		status = WTERMSIG(status);
+		status = 128 + WTERMSIG(status);
 	} else {
-		status = 0;
+		status = -1;
 	}
 
 	exit(status);
diff --git a/src/firejail/main.c b/src/firejail/main.c
index e0bf44f62fa..90d29f2359d 100644
--- a/src/firejail/main.c
+++ b/src/firejail/main.c
@@ -3216,10 +3216,10 @@ printf("link #%s#\n", prf->link);
 	if (WIFEXITED(status)){
 		myexit(WEXITSTATUS(status));
 	} else if (WIFSIGNALED(status)) {
-		myexit(WTERMSIG(status));
+		myexit(128 + WTERMSIG(status));
 	} else {
-		myexit(0);
+		myexit(1);
 	}
 
-	return 0;
+	return 1;
 }
diff --git a/src/firejail/sandbox.c b/src/firejail/sandbox.c
index 59ddfb85585..c02aa06824e 100644
--- a/src/firejail/sandbox.c
+++ b/src/firejail/sandbox.c
@@ -1243,7 +1243,6 @@ int sandbox(void* sandbox_arg) {
 
 	if (app_pid == 0) {
 #ifdef HAVE_APPARMOR
-		// add apparmor confinement after the execve
 		set_apparmor();
 #endif
 
@@ -1262,9 +1261,13 @@ int sandbox(void* sandbox_arg) {
 
 	if (WIFEXITED(status)) {
 		// if we had a proper exit, return that exit status
-		return WEXITSTATUS(status);
+		status = WEXITSTATUS(status);
+	} else if (WIFSIGNALED(status)) {
+		// distinguish fatal signals by adding 128
+		status = 128 + WTERMSIG(status);
 	} else {
-		// something else went wrong!
-		return -1;
+		status = -1;
 	}
+
+	return status;
 }