diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/diff/diff.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/diff/diff.go
index 82cf5133f4f..50256e32aa4 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/diff/diff.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/diff/diff.go
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ func NewCmdDiff(f cmdutil.Factory, streams genericclioptions.IOStreams) *cobra.C
 			// return 1 if there was a problem.
 			if err := options.Run(); err != nil {
 				if exitErr := diffError(err); exitErr != nil {
-					os.Exit(exitErr.ExitStatus())
+					cmdutil.CheckErr(cmdutil.ErrExit)
 				}
 				cmdutil.CheckDiffErr(err)
 			}
diff --git a/test/cmd/diff.sh b/test/cmd/diff.sh
index fe743275840..3be6311cfb1 100755
--- a/test/cmd/diff.sh
+++ b/test/cmd/diff.sh
@@ -46,8 +46,10 @@ run_kubectl_diff_tests() {
     # Make sure that:
     # 1. the exit code for diff is 1 because it found a difference
     # 2. the difference contains the changed image
-    output_message=$(kubectl diff -f hack/testdata/pod-changed.yaml || test $? -eq 1)
+    # 3. the output doesn't indicate this is an error
+    output_message=$(kubectl diff -f hack/testdata/pod-changed.yaml 2>&1 || test $? -eq 1)
     kube::test::if_has_string "${output_message}" 'registry.k8s.io/pause:3.4'
+    kube::test::if_has_not_string "${output_message}" 'exit status 1'
 
     # Ensure diff only dry-runs and doesn't persist change
     resourceVersion=$(kubectl get "${kube_flags[@]:?}" -f hack/testdata/pod.yaml -o go-template='{{ .metadata.resourceVersion }}')