diff --git a/tools/repository/repo b/tools/repository/repo
index 6795b41851db..51ed6d2bcb2e 100755
--- a/tools/repository/repo
+++ b/tools/repository/repo
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -e
 
 # Drop unsupported releases
 drop_unsupported_releases() {
@@ -44,9 +45,8 @@ for f in "${4}${2}"/*.deb; do
 	version=$(echo "${package}" | awk /Version/'{print $2}')
 	arch=$(echo "${package}" | awk /Architecture/'{print $2}')
 	# add if not already there
-	aptly repo search -architectures="${arch}" -config="${CONFIG}" "${1}" \
-	'Name (% '${name}'), $Version (='${version}'), $Architecture (='${arch}')' &> /dev/null
-	if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
+	if aptly repo search -architectures="${arch}" -config="${CONFIG}" "${1}" \
+	'Name (% '${name}'), $Version (='${version}'), $Architecture (='${arch}')' &> /dev/null; then
 		echo -e "Checking and adding \x1B[92m$name\x1B[0m to repository \x1B[92m$release $3\x1B[0m"
 		aptly repo add -config="${CONFIG}" "${1}" "${f}" &> /dev/null
 	fi
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ for release in "${distributions[@]}"; do
 		sudo date +%s > ${2}/public/control
 		# publish
 		echo "Publishing: ${release}"
-		aptly publish \
+		if aptly publish \
 			-acquire-by-hash \
 			-architectures="armhf,arm64,amd64,riscv64,i386,all" \
 			-passphrase="${4}" \
@@ -168,8 +168,7 @@ for release in "${distributions[@]}"; do
 			-label="Armbian" \
 			-config="${CONFIG}" \
 			-component="${COMPONENTS// /,}" \
-			-distribution="${release}" repo "${release}" ${COMPONENTS//main/} > /dev/null
-		if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
+			-distribution="${release}" repo "${release}" ${COMPONENTS//main/} > /dev/null; then
 			echo "Publishing failed ${release}"
 			errors=$((errors + 1))
 			exit 0
@@ -277,11 +276,8 @@ case $3 in
 			LIST=("${new_list[@]}")
 			LIST_LENGTH=$((${#LIST[@]} / 2))
 			exec 3>&1
-			TARGET_VERSION=$(dialog --cancel-label "Cancel" --backtitle "BACKTITLE" --no-collapse --title \
-			"Remove packages from repositories" --clear --menu "Delete" $((9 + LIST_LENGTH)) 82 65 "${LIST[@]}" 2>&1 1>&3)
-			exitstatus=$?
-			exec 3>&-
-			if [[ $exitstatus -eq 0 ]]; then
+			if TARGET_VERSION=$(dialog --cancel-label "Cancel" --backtitle "BACKTITLE" --no-collapse --title \
+			"Remove packages from repositories" --clear --menu "Delete" $((9 + LIST_LENGTH)) 82 65 "${LIST[@]}" 2>&1 1>&3); then
 				for release in "${DISTROS[@]}"; do
 					aptly repo remove -config="${CONFIG}" "${release}" "$TARGET_VERSION"
 					aptly repo remove -config="${CONFIG}" "${release}-utils" "$TARGET_VERSION"
@@ -290,6 +286,7 @@ case $3 in
 			else
 				return 1
 			fi
+			exec 3>&-
 			aptly db cleanup -config="${CONFIG}" > /dev/null 2>&1
 			# remove empty folders
 			find $2/public -type d -empty -print -exec rm -rf {} \;
@@ -399,6 +396,4 @@ sed 's|"rootDir": ".*"|"rootDir": "'$output'"|g' tools/repository/aptly.conf > "
 CONFIG="${TempDir}/aptly.conf"
 
 # main
-repo-manipulate "$input" "$output" "$command" "$password" "$releases" "$list"
-RETURN=$?
-exit $RETURN
+exit $(repo-manipulate "$input" "$output" "$command" "$password" "$releases" "$list")