diff --git a/.github/workflows/action-test.yml b/.github/workflows/action-test.yml
index 79d355d..cd6b82d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/action-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/action-test.yml
@@ -142,10 +142,19 @@ jobs:
           set -uo pipefail
           mkdir -p _fx
           printf 'AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=%s%s\n' 'AKIA' 'IOSFODNN7EXAMPLE' > _fx/leak.env
-          # leakwatch exits 1 on findings; `|| true` so the capture doesn't abort
-          # the step under bash -e (GitHub's default shell flags).
-          out="$("${RUNNER_TEMP}/leakwatch" scan fs _fx --format github --no-verify 2>/dev/null || true)"
+          # leakwatch exits 1 on findings (expected here); capture the code so the
+          # step doesn't abort under bash -e, but still fail on a real error (>=2).
+          # Explicit if/else makes the exit-code capture obvious (an assignment's
+          # status mirrors its command substitution).
+          if out="$("${RUNNER_TEMP}/leakwatch" scan fs _fx --format github --no-verify 2>/dev/null)"; then
+            rc=0
+          else
+            rc=$?
+          fi
           echo "$out"
+          if [ "$rc" -ge 2 ]; then
+            echo "::error::leakwatch exited with $rc (a hard error, not findings)"; exit 1
+          fi
           echo "$out" | grep -q '^::error .*aws-access-key-id' \
-            || { echo "::error::expected an ::error annotation for aws-access-key-id"; exit 1; }
+            || { echo "::error::expected an ::error annotation for aws-access-key-id (exit was $rc)"; exit 1; }
           echo "OK: --format github emitted an inline annotation"
diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index 035af68..b20166c 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -289,12 +289,12 @@ runs:
         # Do NOT echo the assembled args: path/extra-args may carry credentials
         # (tokens, authenticated URLs) that GitHub log masking would not catch.
         echo "Running leakwatch scan (type=${INPUT_SCAN_TYPE}, format=${INPUT_FORMAT})"
-        # GitHub invokes bash with -e; findings legitimately exit 1, so disable
-        # errexit around the scan and map the exit code ourselves below (otherwise
-        # the step would abort here and fail-on-findings: false would be ignored).
-        set +e
-        leakwatch "${ARGS[@]}"
-        EXIT_CODE=$?
+        # GitHub invokes bash with -e, and findings legitimately exit 1. Capture
+        # the exit code without disabling errexit globally (via `|| EXIT_CODE=$?`),
+        # so later commands in this step still fail fast. Without this, the step
+        # would abort here and fail-on-findings: false would be ignored.
+        EXIT_CODE=0
+        leakwatch "${ARGS[@]}" || EXIT_CODE=$?
 
         # ---- Job summary ------------------------------------------------------
         if [ -n "${GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY:-}" ]; then
@@ -310,7 +310,17 @@ runs:
                 echo ""
                 echo "| Level | Detector | Location |"
                 echo "| --- | --- | --- |"
-                jq -r '.runs[].results[] | "| \(.level) | \(.ruleId) | \((.locations[0].physicalLocation.artifactLocation.uri // "-"))\(if .locations[0].physicalLocation.region.startLine then ":" + (.locations[0].physicalLocation.region.startLine | tostring) else "" end) |"' "$OUT" 2>/dev/null | head -50
+                # Render to a temp file first, then take the first 50 lines from
+                # it. Piping jq directly into `head` would give jq a SIGPIPE once
+                # head closes (after 50 lines), and under pipefail that non-zero
+                # status would trip the fallback even though the table rendered.
+                tbl="$(mktemp)"
+                if jq -r '.runs[].results[] | "| \(.level) | \(.ruleId) | \((.locations[0].physicalLocation.artifactLocation.uri // "-"))\(if .locations[0].physicalLocation.region.startLine then ":" + (.locations[0].physicalLocation.region.startLine | tostring) else "" end) |"' "$OUT" > "$tbl" 2>/dev/null && [ -s "$tbl" ]; then
+                  head -n 50 "$tbl"
+                else
+                  echo "_(could not render the findings table; see the SARIF artifact)_"
+                fi
+                rm -f "$tbl"
                 if [ "${total:-0}" -gt 50 ] 2>/dev/null; then
                   echo ""
                   echo "_…showing the first 50 of ${total} findings._"