diff --git a/sapi/cli/php_cli.c b/sapi/cli/php_cli.c
index 8bc0ae7d4ec..62bc619db63 100644
--- a/sapi/cli/php_cli.c
+++ b/sapi/cli/php_cli.c
@@ -1064,7 +1064,7 @@ static int do_cli(int argc, char **argv) /* {{{ */
 						zend_printf("Exception: %s\n", Z_STRVAL_P(msg));
 						zend_object_release(EG(exception));
 						EG(exception) = NULL;
-						exit_status = 1;
+						EG(exit_status) = 1;
 					} else {
 						zend_print_zval(&ref, 0);
 						zend_write("\n", 1);