diff --git a/internal/temporalcli/commands.extension.go b/internal/temporalcli/commands.extension.go
index 794242263..b00900810 100644
--- a/internal/temporalcli/commands.extension.go
+++ b/internal/temporalcli/commands.extension.go
@@ -25,6 +25,14 @@ var cliArgsToParseForExtension = map[string]bool{
 	"command-timeout": true,
 }
 
+type ExtensionNonZeroExit struct {
+	*exec.ExitError
+}
+
+func (err ExtensionNonZeroExit) Unwrap() error {
+	return err.ExitError
+}
+
 // tryExecuteExtension tries to execute an extension command if the command is not a built-in command.
 // It returns an error if the extension command fails, and a boolean indicating whether an extension was executed.
 func tryExecuteExtension(cctx *CommandContext, tcmd *TemporalCommand) (error, bool) {
@@ -77,8 +85,8 @@ func tryExecuteExtension(cctx *CommandContext, tcmd *TemporalCommand) (error, bo
 		if ctx.Err() != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("program interrupted"), true
 		}
-		if _, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
-			return nil, true
+		if exitError, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
+			return ExtensionNonZeroExit{exitError}, true
 		}
 		return fmt.Errorf("extension %s failed: %w", extPath, err), true
 	}
diff --git a/internal/temporalcli/commands.extension_test.go b/internal/temporalcli/commands.extension_test.go
index 266a8fcd1..2590be0cc 100644
--- a/internal/temporalcli/commands.extension_test.go
+++ b/internal/temporalcli/commands.extension_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"github.com/temporalio/cli/internal/temporalcli"
 	"golang.org/x/tools/imports"
 )
 
@@ -232,7 +233,7 @@ func TestExtension_FailsOnNonExecutableCommand(t *testing.T) {
 	h := newExtensionHarness(t)
 	// Create file without execute permission.
 	path := filepath.Join(h.binDir, "temporal-foo")
-	err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte("a text file"), 0644)
+	err := os.WriteFile(path, []byte("a text file"), 0o644)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	res := h.Execute("foo")
@@ -248,7 +249,10 @@ func TestExtension_PassesThroughNonZeroExit(t *testing.T) {
 	res := h.Execute("foo")
 
 	assert.Equal(t, "Args: temporal-foo \n", res.Stdout.String())
-	assert.NoError(t, res.Err)
+	var exitError temporalcli.ExtensionNonZeroExit
+	if assert.ErrorAs(t, res.Err, &exitError) {
+		assert.Equal(t, 42, exitError.ExitCode())
+	}
 }
 
 func TestExtension_FailsOnCommandTimeout(t *testing.T) {
@@ -306,7 +310,7 @@ func (h *extensionHarness) createExtension(name string, code ...string) string {
 
 	// Write source file.
 	srcPath := filepath.Join(h.binDir, name+".go")
-	require.NoError(h.t, os.WriteFile(srcPath, formatted, 0644))
+	require.NoError(h.t, os.WriteFile(srcPath, formatted, 0o644))
 
 	// Build executable.
 	binPath := filepath.Join(h.binDir, name)
diff --git a/internal/temporalcli/commands.go b/internal/temporalcli/commands.go
index ecb52515d..eaf08dbdf 100644
--- a/internal/temporalcli/commands.go
+++ b/internal/temporalcli/commands.go
@@ -145,6 +145,11 @@ func (c *CommandContext) preprocessOptions() error {
 			if c.Err() != nil {
 				err = fmt.Errorf("program interrupted")
 			}
+			if exitError, ok := errors.AsType[ExtensionNonZeroExit](err); ok {
+				// An extension failed after being found and successfully started. Here we defer
+				// to its own error handling logic, and just copy the exit code through.
+				os.Exit(exitError.ExitCode())
+			}
 			fmt.Fprintf(c.Options.Stderr, "Error: %v\n", err)
 			os.Exit(1)
 		}
@@ -524,7 +529,7 @@ var buildInfo string
 func VersionString() string {
 	// To add build-time information to the version string, use
 	// go build -ldflags "-X github.com/temporalio/cli/internal.buildInfo=<MyString>"
-	var bi = buildInfo
+	bi := buildInfo
 	if bi != "" {
 		bi = fmt.Sprintf(", %s", bi)
 	}