diff --git a/__tests__/container-service.test.ts b/__tests__/container-service.test.ts
index 64bdc38..5b0782f 100644
--- a/__tests__/container-service.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/container-service.test.ts
@@ -7,18 +7,36 @@ describe('ContainerService', () => {
   const docker = new Docker()
   let container: any
 
-  beforeAll(async () => {
-    await ImageService.pull('alpine')
-    container = await docker.createContainer({
-      Image: 'alpine',
-      AttachStdout: true,
-      AttachStderr: true,
-      Cmd: ['/bin/sh', '-c', 'echo $VAR'],
-      Env: ['VAR=env-var']
+  describe('when a container runs successfully', () => {
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      await ImageService.pull('alpine')
+      container = await docker.createContainer({
+        Image: 'alpine',
+        AttachStdout: true,
+        AttachStderr: true,
+        Cmd: ['/bin/sh', '-c', 'echo $VAR'],
+        Env: ['VAR=env-var']
+      })
+    })
+
+    test('it returns true', async () => {
+      expect(await ContainerService.run(container)).toBe(true)
     })
   })
 
-  test('runs containers', async () => {
-    await ContainerService.run(container)
+  describe('when a container runs unsuccessfully', () => {
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+      await ImageService.pull('alpine')
+      container = await docker.createContainer({
+        Image: 'alpine',
+        AttachStdout: true,
+        AttachStderr: true,
+        Cmd: ['/bin/sh', '-c']
+      })
+    })
+
+    test('raises an exception', async () => {
+      await expect(ContainerService.run(container)).rejects.toThrow()
+    })
   })
 })
diff --git a/src/container-service.ts b/src/container-service.ts
index 9984e93..b6bf4c1 100644
--- a/src/container-service.ts
+++ b/src/container-service.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import {pack} from 'tar-stream'
 import {FileFetcherInput, FileUpdaterInput, ProxyConfig} from './config-types'
 import {outStream, errStream} from './utils'
 
+class ContainerRuntimeError extends Error {}
+
 export const ContainerService = {
   async storeInput(
     name: string,
@@ -29,7 +31,7 @@ export const ContainerService = {
     await container.putArchive(tar, {path})
   },
 
-  async run(container: Container): Promise<void> {
+  async run(container: Container): Promise<boolean> {
     try {
       const stream = await container.attach({
         stream: true,
@@ -43,7 +45,15 @@ export const ContainerService = {
       )
 
       await container.start()
-      await container.wait()
+      const outcome = await container.wait()
+
+      if (outcome.StatusCode === 0) {
+        return true
+      } else {
+        throw new ContainerRuntimeError(
+          `Failure running container ${container.id}`
+        )
+      }
     } finally {
       await container.remove()
       core.info(`Cleaned up container ${container.id}`)