diff --git a/src/scripts/merge_tools/gitmerge_recursive_histogram.sh b/src/scripts/merge_tools/gitmerge_recursive_histogram.sh
index afddba1160..3d8238775a 100755
--- a/src/scripts/merge_tools/gitmerge_recursive_histogram.sh
+++ b/src/scripts/merge_tools/gitmerge_recursive_histogram.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ clone_dir=$1
 branch1=$2
 branch2=$3
 strategy="-s recursive -Xdiff-algorithm=histogram"
-"$MERGE_SCRIPTS_DIR"/gitmerge.sh "$clone_dir" "$branch1" "$branch2" "$strategy"
-if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
+if ! "$MERGE_SCRIPTS_DIR"/gitmerge.sh "$clone_dir" "$branch1" "$branch2" "$strategy"; then
   exit 1
 fi