diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/plugin.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/plugin.go
index e883d1a65df..b69e7a89c68 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/plugin.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/plugin.go
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ package cmd
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"syscall"
 
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
@@ -109,6 +112,15 @@ func NewCmdForPlugin(f cmdutil.Factory, plugin *plugins.Plugin, runner plugins.P
 			}
 
 			if err := runner.Run(plugin, runningContext); err != nil {
+				if exiterr, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
+					// check for (and exit with) the correct exit code
+					// from a failed plugin command execution
+					if status, ok := exiterr.Sys().(syscall.WaitStatus); ok {
+						fmt.Fprintf(errout, "error: %v\n", err)
+						os.Exit(status.ExitStatus())
+					}
+				}
+
 				cmdutil.CheckErr(err)
 			}
 		},