diff --git a/tasks/run.rb b/tasks/run.rb
index bdf429cf..27c58951 100755
--- a/tasks/run.rb
+++ b/tasks/run.rb
@@ -153,9 +153,10 @@ def try_run(last_run_report, params)
     command = [puppet_bin, 'agent', '-t', '--color', 'false', noop(params), environment(params)]
 
     options = {
-      failonfail:         false,
+      failonfail:         true, # fail the task when the puppet agent run fails
       custom_environment: get_env_fix_up,
-      override_locale:    false
+      override_locale:    false,
+      combine:            true # combine stdout and stderr
     }
 
     run_result = Puppet::Util::Execution.execute(command.reject(&:empty?), options)