diff --git a/src/errors/errors/exit.ts b/src/errors/errors/exit.ts
index eeb7c3164..11dd684d9 100644
--- a/src/errors/errors/exit.ts
+++ b/src/errors/errors/exit.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ export class ExitError extends CLIError implements OclifError {
 
   code = 'EEXIT'
 
-  constructor(exitCode = 0) {
+  constructor(exitCode = 1) {
     super(`EEXIT: ${exitCode}`, {exit: exitCode})
   }
 
diff --git a/test/errors/handle.test.ts b/test/errors/handle.test.ts
index 31945eea8..b9d3c8d63 100644
--- a/test/errors/handle.test.ts
+++ b/test/errors/handle.test.ts
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ describe('handle', () => {
   .stderr()
   .finally(() => delete process.exitCode)
   .it('hides an exit error', ctx => {
-    handle(new ExitError())
+    handle(new ExitError(0))
     expect(ctx.stdout).to.equal('')
     expect(ctx.stderr).to.equal('')
     expect(process.exitCode).to.equal(0)