diff --git a/ccollect.sh b/ccollect.sh
index fca0a92..490f6e4 100755
--- a/ccollect.sh
+++ b/ccollect.sh
@@ -417,8 +417,10 @@ while [ "$i" -lt "$no_sources" ]; do
       rsync $ouropts $useropts "$source" "$abs_destination_dir"
    fi
 
-   if [ "$?" -ne 0 ]; then
-      echo "rsync reported error $?. The backup may be broken (see rsync errors)."
+   ret=$?
+
+   if [ "$ret" -ne 0 ]; then
+      echo "rsync reported error $ret. The backup may be broken (see rsync errors)."
    fi
 
    echo "$($DDATE) Finished backup"
diff --git a/test/return-value.sh b/test/return-value.sh
index e91de9a..554def0 100755
--- a/test/return-value.sh
+++ b/test/return-value.sh
@@ -14,3 +14,10 @@ if [ "$ret" -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "$ret"
 fi
 
+# if is true, ls is fales
+if [ "foo" = "foo" ]; then
+   ls /surely-not-existent$$ 2>/dev/null
+fi
+
+# but that's still the return of ls and not of fi
+echo $?