diff --git a/core/scripts/run-tests.sh b/core/scripts/run-tests.sh
index d6705627a79b38889a8d8808a3e308a20ad9765a..15e6e809497e3f33a8afe5cebfe1f48e0d86a74e 100755
--- a/core/scripts/run-tests.sh
+++ b/core/scripts/run-tests.sh
@@ -647,7 +647,6 @@ function simpletest_script_execute_batch($test_classes) {
         elseif ($status['exitcode']) {
           $message = 'FATAL ' . $child['class'] . ': test runner returned a non-zero error code (' . $status['exitcode'] . ').';
           echo $message . "\n";
-          $total_status = max($status['exitcode'], $total_status);
           // Insert a fail for xml results.
           TestBase::insertAssert($child['test_id'], $child['class'], FALSE, $message, 'run-tests.sh check');
           // Ensure that an error line is displayed for the class.