diff --git a/src/node_task_runner.cc b/src/node_task_runner.cc
index 22c02e83e12e..5cafea2a13a8 100644
--- a/src/node_task_runner.cc
+++ b/src/node_task_runner.cc
@@ -210,6 +210,8 @@ void ProcessRunner::Run() {
   options_.cwd = cwd_.c_str();
   if (int r = uv_spawn(loop_, &process_, &options_)) {
     fprintf(stderr, "Error: %s\n", uv_strerror(r));
+    init_result_->exit_code_ = ExitCode::kGenericUserError;
+    return;
   }
 
   uv_run(loop_, UV_RUN_DEFAULT);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-node-run.js b/test/parallel/test-node-run.js
index e24117f6b165..3af2e12587e1 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-node-run.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-node-run.js
@@ -34,6 +34,26 @@ describe('node --run [command]', () => {
     assert.strictEqual(child.code, 1);
   });
 
+  it('returns an error when spawning the shell fails', {
+    skip: !common.isWindows,
+  }, async () => {
+    const env = { ...process.env };
+    for (const key of Object.keys(env)) {
+      if (key.toLowerCase() === 'comspec') {
+        delete env[key];
+      }
+    }
+    env.ComSpec = fixtures.path('run-script', 'non-existent-cmd.exe');
+
+    const child = await common.spawnPromisified(
+      process.execPath,
+      [ '--run', 'test'],
+      { cwd: fixtures.path('run-script'), env },
+    );
+    assert.match(child.stderr, /^Error: /);
+    assert.strictEqual(child.code, 1);
+  });
+
   it('adds node_modules/.bin to path', async () => {
     const child = await common.spawnPromisified(
       process.execPath,