diff --git a/lib/cppcheck.cpp b/lib/cppcheck.cpp
index 5a270d938ca..7d93bc78192 100644
--- a/lib/cppcheck.cpp
+++ b/lib/cppcheck.cpp
@@ -1682,8 +1682,14 @@ void CppCheck::executeAddons(const std::vector<std::string>& files, const std::s
         if (isCtuInfo && addonInfo.name != "misra" && !addonInfo.ctu)
             continue;
 
-        const std::vector<picojson::value> results =
-            executeAddon(addonInfo, mSettings.addonPython, fileList.empty() ? files[0] : fileList, mSettings.premiumArgs, mExecuteCommand);
+        std::vector<picojson::value> results;
+        try {
+            results = executeAddon(addonInfo, mSettings.addonPython, fileList.empty() ? files[0] : fileList, mSettings.premiumArgs, mExecuteCommand);
+        } catch (const InternalError& e) {
+            const ErrorMessage errmsg = ErrorMessage::fromInternalError(e, nullptr, file0, "Bailing out from analysis: Addon '" + addonInfo.name + "' failed");
+            mErrorLogger.reportErr(errmsg);
+            continue;
+        }
 
         const bool misraC2023 = mSettings.premiumArgs.find("--misra-c-2023") != std::string::npos;
 
diff --git a/test/cli/whole-program_test.py b/test/cli/whole-program_test.py
index c8115f06d19..29dc94cb7e9 100644
--- a/test/cli/whole-program_test.py
+++ b/test/cli/whole-program_test.py
@@ -358,3 +358,18 @@ def test_checkclass_project_builddir_j(tmpdir):
     build_dir = os.path.join(tmpdir, 'b1')
     os.mkdir(build_dir)
     __test_checkclass_project(tmpdir, ['-j2', '--cppcheck-build-dir={}'.format(build_dir)])
+
+
+def test_ctu_fail(tmpdir):
+    # 13440 - handle InternalError exception during whole program analysis
+
+    with open(tmpdir / 'foo.json', 'wt') as f:
+        f.write('{ "executable": "notexist", "ctu": true }')
+
+    test_file = tmpdir / 'test.c'
+    with open(test_file, 'wt') as f:
+        f.write(';\n')
+
+    _, _, stderr = cppcheck(['--addon=foo.json', '--template=daca2', 'test.c'], cwd=tmpdir)
+    last_line = stderr.strip().splitlines()[-1]
+    assert ''':0:0: error: Bailing out from analysis: Addon 'foo.json' failed: Failed to execute addon 'foo.json' - exitcode is 127 [internalError]''' == last_line