diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 55a24cb..4ed1dc3 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [UNRELEASED]
 
+### Changed
+
+- Check `result.returncode != 0` inside `run` method before deferring to `_on_ssh_fail`.
+
 ## [0.20.0] - 2022-12-15
 
 ### Changed
diff --git a/covalent_ssh_plugin/ssh.py b/covalent_ssh_plugin/ssh.py
index 505ae19..ebf7b15 100644
--- a/covalent_ssh_plugin/ssh.py
+++ b/covalent_ssh_plugin/ssh.py
@@ -500,7 +500,8 @@ async def run(
 
         if result_err := result.stderr.strip():
             app_log.warning(result_err)
-            return self._on_ssh_fail(function, args, kwargs, result_err)
+            if result.returncode != 0:
+                return self._on_ssh_fail(function, args, kwargs, result_err)
 
         if not await self._poll_task(conn, remote_result_file):
             message = (