diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 1bdd7a8f..d8d5c9e9 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -597,9 +597,9 @@ fn cmd_profile(
     }
 
     eprintln!();
-    match cmd_report(None, show_all, frames) {
+    let report_result = match cmd_report(None, show_all, frames) {
         Ok(()) => Ok(()),
-        Err(Error::NoRuns) if !status.success() && !ignore_exit_code => {
+        Err(Error::NoRuns) if !status.success() => {
             // Program failed and produced no data. The program's own error
             // output is the primary affordance (UX principle 6). Suppress
             // Piano's NoRuns to avoid cascading errors.
@@ -612,7 +612,15 @@ fn cmd_profile(
             Err(Error::NoDataWritten(runs_dir))
         }
         Err(e) => Err(e),
+    };
+
+    report_result?;
+
+    if !status.success() && !ignore_exit_code {
+        std::process::exit(status.code().unwrap_or(1));
     }
+
+    Ok(())
 }
 
 fn cmd_report(run_path: Option<PathBuf>, show_all: bool, frames: bool) -> Result<(), Error> {
diff --git a/tests/run_cmd.rs b/tests/run_cmd.rs
index 24f7d6a8..210a58e7 100644
--- a/tests/run_cmd.rs
+++ b/tests/run_cmd.rs
@@ -216,6 +216,68 @@ fn profile_suppresses_no_runs_error_on_nonzero_exit() {
     );
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn profile_propagates_child_exit_code() {
+    let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+    let project_dir = tmp.path().join("exit-one");
+    create_exit_one_project(&project_dir);
+
+    let piano_bin = env!("CARGO_BIN_EXE_piano");
+    let manifest_dir = Path::new(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"));
+    let runtime_path = manifest_dir.join("piano-runtime");
+
+    // Create runs_dir so cmd_report hits NoRuns (empty dir), not an IO error.
+    let runs_dir = tmp.path().join("runs");
+    fs::create_dir_all(&runs_dir).unwrap();
+
+    let output = Command::new(piano_bin)
+        .args(["profile", "--fn", "work", "--project"])
+        .arg(&project_dir)
+        .arg("--runtime-path")
+        .arg(&runtime_path)
+        .env("PIANO_RUNS_DIR", &runs_dir)
+        .output()
+        .expect("failed to run piano profile");
+
+    let stderr = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr);
+
+    assert_eq!(
+        output.status.code(),
+        Some(1),
+        "piano profile should propagate child's exit code 1, got: {:?}\nstderr: {stderr}",
+        output.status.code()
+    );
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn profile_ignore_exit_code_returns_success() {
+    let tmp = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+    let project_dir = tmp.path().join("exit-one");
+    create_exit_one_project(&project_dir);
+
+    let piano_bin = env!("CARGO_BIN_EXE_piano");
+    let manifest_dir = Path::new(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"));
+    let runtime_path = manifest_dir.join("piano-runtime");
+
+    let runs_dir = tmp.path().join("runs");
+    fs::create_dir_all(&runs_dir).unwrap();
+
+    let output = Command::new(piano_bin)
+        .args(["profile", "--fn", "work", "--ignore-exit-code", "--project"])
+        .arg(&project_dir)
+        .arg("--runtime-path")
+        .arg(&runtime_path)
+        .env("PIANO_RUNS_DIR", &runs_dir)
+        .output()
+        .expect("failed to run piano profile with --ignore-exit-code");
+
+    assert!(
+        output.status.success(),
+        "piano profile with --ignore-exit-code should exit 0, got: {:?}",
+        output.status.code()
+    );
+}
+
 fn create_echo_args_project(dir: &Path) {
     fs::create_dir_all(dir.join("src")).unwrap();