diff --git a/pytests/conftest.py b/pytests/conftest.py
index 6e088f2d..05babf78 100644
--- a/pytests/conftest.py
+++ b/pytests/conftest.py
@@ -101,7 +101,12 @@ def __init__(self, cli_args=None):
             self.config.update(cli_args)
         self.config['distribution'] = os.environ.get('DIST', 'photon')
         script = os.path.join(self.config['test_path'], 'repo/setup-repo.sh')
-        self.run(['sh', script, self.config['repo_path']])
+        ret = self.run(['sh', script, self.config['repo_path']])
+        if ret['retval']:
+            pytest.exit("An error occured while running {}, stdout: \n{}".format(
+                script,
+                "\n".join(ret['stdout'])
+            ))
         self.tdnf_config = configparser.ConfigParser()
         self.tdnf_config.read(os.path.join(self.config['repo_path'],
                                            'tdnf.conf'))
diff --git a/pytests/repo/setup-repo.sh b/pytests/repo/setup-repo.sh
index 64dc5834..1e1acd31 100755
--- a/pytests/repo/setup-repo.sh
+++ b/pytests/repo/setup-repo.sh
@@ -12,13 +12,22 @@ if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
 	exit 1
 fi
 
-fix_dir_perms()
+function fix_dir_perms()
 {
   chmod 755 ${TEST_REPO_DIR}
   find ${TEST_REPO_DIR} -type d -exec chmod 0755 {} \;
   find ${TEST_REPO_DIR} -type f -exec chmod 0644 {} \;
 }
 
+## used to check return code for each command.
+function check_err {
+  rc=$?
+  if [ $rc -ne 0 ]; then
+      echo $1
+      exit $rc
+  fi
+}
+
 TEST_REPO_DIR=$1
 if [ -d $1 ]; then
 	echo "Repo already exists"
@@ -56,6 +65,7 @@ EOF
 #generate a key non interactively. this is used in testing
 #repogpgcheck plugin
 gpg --batch --generate-key ${TEST_REPO_DIR}/gpgkeydata
+check_err "Failed to generate gpg key."
 
 cat << EOF > ~/.rpmmacros
 %_gpg_name tdnftest@tdnf.test
@@ -69,8 +79,10 @@ done
 echo building packages
 rpmbuild  --define "_topdir ${BUILD_PATH}" \
 	  -r ${BUILD_PATH} -ba ${REPO_SRC_DIR}/*.spec
+check_err "Failed to build packages."
 rpmsign --addsign ${BUILD_PATH}/RPMS/*/*.rpm
 cp -r ${BUILD_PATH}/RPMS ${PUBLISH_PATH}
+check_err "Failed to sign built packages."
 
 # save key to later be imported:
 mkdir -p ${PUBLISH_PATH}/keys
@@ -79,12 +91,15 @@ gpg --armor --export tdnftest@tdnf.test > ${PUBLISH_PATH}/keys/pubkey.asc
 createrepo ${PUBLISH_PATH} > /dev/null 2>&1
 
 modifyrepo ${REPO_SRC_DIR}/updateinfo-1.xml ${PUBLISH_PATH}/repodata
+check_err "Failed to modify repo with updateinfo-1.xml."
 modifyrepo ${REPO_SRC_DIR}/updateinfo-2.xml ${PUBLISH_PATH}/repodata
+check_err "Failed to modify repo with updateinfo-2.xml."
 
 #gpg sign repomd.xml
 gpg --batch --passphrase-fd 0 \
 --pinentry-mode loopback \
 --detach-sign --armor ${PUBLISH_PATH}/repodata/repomd.xml
+check_err "Failed to gpg sign repomd.xml."
 
 cat << EOF > ${TEST_REPO_DIR}/yum.repos.d/photon-test.repo
 [photon-test]