diff --git a/test/helpers/kubectl.go b/test/helpers/kubectl.go
index cbd73171dcac..d0a4f18bdf03 100644
--- a/test/helpers/kubectl.go
+++ b/test/helpers/kubectl.go
@@ -852,11 +852,11 @@ func (kub *Kubectl) NamespaceDelete(name string) *CmdRes {
 	ginkgoext.By("Deleting namespace %s", name)
 	res := kub.DeleteAllInNamespace(name)
 	if !res.WasSuccessful() {
-		kub.Logger().Infof("Error while deleting all objects from %s ns: %s", name, res.GetError().Error())
+		kub.Logger().Infof("Error while deleting all objects from %s ns: %s", name, res.GetError())
 	}
 	res = kub.ExecShort(fmt.Sprintf("%s delete namespace %s", KubectlCmd, name))
 	if !res.WasSuccessful() {
-		kub.Logger().Infof("Error while deleting ns %s: %s", name, res.GetError().Error())
+		kub.Logger().Infof("Error while deleting ns %s: %s", name, res.GetError())
 	}
 	return kub.ExecShort(fmt.Sprintf(
 		"%[1]s get namespace %[2]s -o json | tr -d \"\\n\" | sed \"s/\\\"finalizers\\\": \\[[^]]\\+\\]/\\\"finalizers\\\": []/\" | %[1]s replace --raw /api/v1/namespaces/%[2]s/finalize -f -", KubectlCmd, name))
diff --git a/test/helpers/node.go b/test/helpers/node.go
index ff21b6a4fd3a..00c2f3ef30e6 100644
--- a/test/helpers/node.go
+++ b/test/helpers/node.go
@@ -229,8 +229,8 @@ func (s *SSHMeta) ExecContext(ctx context.Context, cmd string, options ...ExecOp
 		} else {
 			// Log other error types. They are likely from SSH or the network
 			log.WithError(err).Errorf("Error executing command '%s'", cmd)
-			res.err = err
 		}
+		res.err = err
 	}
 
 	res.SendToLog(ops.SkipLog)
@@ -306,6 +306,9 @@ func (s *SSHMeta) ExecInBackground(ctx context.Context, cmd string, options ...E
 					res.success = true
 				}
 			}
+			if !res.success {
+				res.err = err
+			}
 		} else {
 			res.success = true
 			res.exitcode = 0