diff --git a/show-status.sh b/show-status.sh
index ef68d945..ce026a24 100755
--- a/show-status.sh
+++ b/show-status.sh
@@ -22,26 +22,25 @@ check_sync_status() {
     # Cap the whole per-node branch (belt-and-suspenders over check-health's own cap), so no single
     # node can ever block the 'wait' below — that is what wedged the fleet rpc-update for hours.
     result=$(timeout "${SYNC_TIMEOUT:-60}" "$BASEPATH/sync-status.sh" "${part%.yml}")
+    # Capture the status IMMEDIATELY. Any command in between - including a plain
+    # assignment like `code=0` - overwrites $? with its own (always 0) status.
+    rc=$?
 
     code=0
-    
-    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-        if [[ "$result" == *"syncing"* ]]; then
-            # Allow exit status 1 if result contains "syncing"
-            code=0
-        elif [[ "$result" == *"lagging"* ]]; then
-            # Allow exit status 1 if result contains "lagging"
+    if [ "$rc" -ne 0 ]; then
+        if [[ "$result" == *"syncing"* ]] || [[ "$result" == *"lagging"* ]]; then
+            # sync-status exits 1 for syncing/lagging; those are expected states,
+            # not failures.
             code=0
         else
-            any_failure=true
             code=1
         fi
-    else
-	code=1
-	any_failure=true
     fi
 
     echo "${part%.yml}: $result"
+    # NOTE: do NOT set any_failure here. This function runs backgrounded (`&`), so
+    # it executes in a subshell and any variable it sets is discarded. Failure is
+    # propagated to the parent through this return code, collected by `wait` below.
     return "$code"
 }
 
@@ -74,9 +73,12 @@ for part in "${parts[@]}"; do
     fi
 done
 
-# Wait for all background processes to finish
+# Wait for all background processes to finish. `wait` runs in the PARENT shell, so
+# this is where a failing node can actually flip any_failure - the checker itself
+# cannot, being a subshell. Previously the status was discarded here, which silently
+# neutered the exit code.
 for pid in "${pids[@]}"; do
-    wait "$pid"
+    wait "$pid" || any_failure=true
 done
 
 # Fenced nodes (fleet-state maintenance windows) are dropped from COMPOSE_FILE