diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generate-config.pl b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generate-config.pl
index 26fc07202bb1..26c559ea9086 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generate-config.pl
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/kernel/generate-config.pl
@@ -136,10 +136,12 @@ while (<CONFIG>) {
 }
 close CONFIG;
 
+my $ret = 0;
 foreach my $name (sort (keys %answers)) {
     my $f = $requiredAnswers{$name} && $ignoreConfigErrors ne "1"
-        ? sub { die "error: " . $_[0]; } : sub { warn "warning: " . $_[0]; };
+        ? sub { warn "error: " . $_[0]; $ret = -1; } : sub { warn "warning: " . $_[0]; };
     &$f("unused option: $name\n") unless defined $config{$name};
     &$f("option not set correctly: $name (wanted '$answers{$name}', got '$config{$name}')\n")
         if $config{$name} && $config{$name} ne $answers{$name};
 }
+exit $ret;