diff --git a/t/t9001-send-email.sh b/t/t9001-send-email.sh
index e80eacbb1b..776769fe0d 100755
--- a/t/t9001-send-email.sh
+++ b/t/t9001-send-email.sh
@@ -1966,11 +1966,11 @@ test_expect_success $PREREQ 'invoke hook' '
 
 		# Verify error message when a patch is rejected by the hook
 		sed -e "s/add master/x/" ../0001-add-master.patch >../another.patch &&
-		git send-email \
+		test_must_fail git send-email \
 			--from="Example <nobody@example.com>" \
 			--to=nobody@example.com \
 			--smtp-server="$(pwd)/../fake.sendmail" \
-			../another.patch 2>err
+			../another.patch 2>err &&
 		test_i18ngrep "rejected by sendemail-validate hook" err
 	)
 '