diff --git a/mkdeb-apparmor.sh b/mkdeb-apparmor.sh
index f6c223c46..152165d60 100755
--- a/mkdeb-apparmor.sh
+++ b/mkdeb-apparmor.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 # based on http://tldp.org/HOWTO/html_single/Debian-Binary-Package-Building-HOWTO/
 # a code archive should already be available
 
+set -e
+
 TOP=`pwd`
 CODE_ARCHIVE="$1-$2.tar.xz"
 CODE_DIR="$1-$2"
diff --git a/mkdeb.sh b/mkdeb.sh
index c9293c81c..630aad51f 100755
--- a/mkdeb.sh
+++ b/mkdeb.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 # based on http://tldp.org/HOWTO/html_single/Debian-Binary-Package-Building-HOWTO/
 # a code archive should already be available
 
+set -e
+
 TOP=`pwd`
 CODE_ARCHIVE="$1-$2.tar.xz"
 CODE_DIR="$1-$2"