diff --git a/git-subsplit.sh b/git-subsplit.sh
index f1fb257..b7dcc0f 100755
--- a/git-subsplit.sh
+++ b/git-subsplit.sh
@@ -216,11 +216,13 @@ subsplit_publish()
 			fi
 
 			say " - syncing branch '${HEAD}'"
+
 			git checkout master >/dev/null 2>&1
 			git branch -D "$LOCAL_BRANCH" >/dev/null 2>&1
 			git branch -D "${LOCAL_BRANCH}-checkout" >/dev/null 2>&1
 			git checkout -b "${LOCAL_BRANCH}-checkout" "origin/${HEAD}" >/dev/null 2>&1
 			git subtree split -q --prefix="$SUBPATH" --branch="$LOCAL_BRANCH" "origin/${HEAD}" >/dev/null
+			RETURNCODE=$?
 
 			if [ -n "$VERBOSE" ];
 			then
@@ -231,7 +233,7 @@ subsplit_publish()
 				echo "${DEBUG} git subtree split -q --prefix=\"$SUBPATH\" --branch=\"$LOCAL_BRANCH\" \"origin/${HEAD}\" >/dev/null"
 			fi
 
-			if [ $? -eq 0 ]
+			if [ $RETURNCODE -eq 0 ]
 			then
 				PUSH_CMD="git push -q ${DRY_RUN} --force $REMOTE_NAME ${LOCAL_BRANCH}:${HEAD}"
 
@@ -291,6 +293,7 @@ subsplit_publish()
 
 			say " - subtree split for '${TAG}'"
 			git subtree split -q --annotate="${ANNOTATE}" --prefix="$SUBPATH" --branch="$LOCAL_TAG" "$TAG" >/dev/null
+			RETURNCODE=$?
 
 			if [ -n "$VERBOSE" ];
 			then
@@ -298,7 +301,7 @@ subsplit_publish()
 			fi
 
 			say " - subtree split for '${TAG}' [DONE]"
-			if [ $? -eq 0 ]
+			if [ $RETURNCODE -eq 0 ]
 			then
 				PUSH_CMD="git push -q ${DRY_RUN} --force ${REMOTE_NAME} ${LOCAL_TAG}:refs/tags/${TAG}"