diff --git a/guix/remote.scm b/guix/remote.scm
index d0c3d04a25c8ce78a7acfc8d92ebf42d4f02e284..c00585de74f1f241711298dc6d664d046a3eaa49 100644
--- a/guix/remote.scm
+++ b/guix/remote.scm
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ (define-module (guix remote)
   #:use-module (guix derivations)
   #:use-module (guix utils)
   #:use-module (ssh popen)
+  #:use-module (ssh channel)
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-1)
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-34)
   #:use-module (srfi srfi-35)
@@ -68,10 +69,13 @@ (define repl-command
 
   (let ((pipe (apply open-remote-pipe* session OPEN_READ repl-command)))
     (when (eof-object? (peek-char pipe))
-      (raise (condition
-              (&message
-               (message (format #f (G_ "failed to run '~{~a~^ ~}'")
-                                repl-command))))))
+      (let ((status (channel-get-exit-status pipe)))
+        (close-port pipe)
+        (raise (condition
+                (&message
+                 (message (format #f (G_ "remote command '~{~a~^ ~}' failed \
+with status ~a")
+                                  repl-command status)))))))
     pipe))
 
 (define* (%remote-eval lowered session #:optional become-command)
diff --git a/guix/ssh.scm b/guix/ssh.scm
index 7bc499a2fe48b585418197102ea76754cf30645d..b6b55bdfcb9d9b5819ac7ced46f1d60bc2dc8abe 100644
--- a/guix/ssh.scm
+++ b/guix/ssh.scm
@@ -106,14 +106,14 @@ (define* (remote-inferior session #:optional become-command)
   (let* ((repl-command (append (or become-command '())
                                '("guix" "repl" "-t" "machine")))
          (pipe (apply open-remote-pipe* session OPEN_BOTH repl-command)))
-    ;; XXX: 'channel-get-exit-status' would be better here, but hangs if the
-    ;; process does succeed. This doesn't reflect the documentation, so it's
-    ;; possible that it's a bug in guile-ssh.
     (when (eof-object? (peek-char pipe))
-      (raise (condition
-              (&message
-               (message (format #f (G_ "failed to run '~{~a~^ ~}'")
-                                repl-command))))))
+      (let ((status (channel-get-exit-status pipe)))
+        (close-port pipe)
+        (raise (condition
+                (&message
+                 (message (format #f (G_ "remote command '~{~a~^ ~}' failed \
+with status ~a")
+                                  repl-command status)))))))
     (port->inferior pipe)))
 
 (define* (inferior-remote-eval exp session #:optional become-command)