diff --git a/examples/generator.rs b/examples/generator.rs
index 49c37f52e..4bcd53026 100644
--- a/examples/generator.rs
+++ b/examples/generator.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use rustpython_vm as vm;
+use std::process::ExitCode;
 use vm::{
     builtins::PyIntRef,
     protocol::{PyIter, PyIterReturn},
@@ -40,10 +41,10 @@ gen()
     Ok(())
 }
 
-fn main() {
+fn main() -> ExitCode {
     let interp = vm::Interpreter::with_init(Default::default(), |vm| {
         vm.add_native_modules(rustpython_stdlib::get_module_inits());
     });
     let result = py_main(&interp);
-    std::process::exit(interp.run(|_vm| result));
+    ExitCode::from(interp.run(|_vm| result))
 }
diff --git a/examples/package_embed.rs b/examples/package_embed.rs
index 664ea6d3c..ef9cee6cd 100644
--- a/examples/package_embed.rs
+++ b/examples/package_embed.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use rustpython_vm as vm;
+use std::process::ExitCode;
 use vm::{builtins::PyStrRef, Interpreter};
 
 fn py_main(interp: &Interpreter) -> vm::PyResult<PyStrRef> {
@@ -13,7 +14,7 @@ fn py_main(interp: &Interpreter) -> vm::PyResult<PyStrRef> {
     })
 }
 
-fn main() -> vm::PyResult<()> {
+fn main() -> ExitCode {
     let interp = vm::Interpreter::with_init(Default::default(), |vm| {
         vm.add_native_modules(rustpython_stdlib::get_module_inits());
     });
@@ -22,6 +23,5 @@ fn main() -> vm::PyResult<()> {
         println!("name: {}", result);
         Ok(())
     });
-    let exit_code = interp.run(|_vm| result);
-    std::process::exit(exit_code);
+    ExitCode::from(interp.run(|_vm| result))
 }
diff --git a/parser/build.rs b/parser/build.rs
index 6ab08cbbf..1304f46b3 100644
--- a/parser/build.rs
+++ b/parser/build.rs
@@ -2,15 +2,18 @@ use std::fmt::Write as _;
 use std::fs::File;
 use std::io::{self, BufRead, BufReader, BufWriter, Write};
 use std::path::PathBuf;
-use std::process::{self, Command};
+use std::process::{Command, ExitCode};
 use tiny_keccak::{Hasher, Sha3};
 
-fn main() {
-    check_lalrpop("src/python.lalrpop", "src/python.rs");
+fn main() -> ExitCode {
+    if let Err(exit_code) = check_lalrpop("src/python.lalrpop", "src/python.rs") {
+        return exit_code;
+    }
     gen_phf();
+    ExitCode::SUCCESS
 }
 
-fn check_lalrpop(source: &str, generated: &str) {
+fn check_lalrpop(source: &str, generated: &str) -> Result<(), ExitCode> {
     println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed={source}");
 
     let sha_prefix = "// sha3: ";
@@ -44,20 +47,21 @@ fn check_lalrpop(source: &str, generated: &str) {
     };
 
     if sha_equal(expected_sha3_str, &actual_sha3) {
-        return;
+        return Ok(());
     }
     match Command::new("lalrpop").arg(source).status() {
-        Ok(stat) if stat.success() => {}
+        Ok(stat) if stat.success() => Ok(()),
         Ok(stat) => {
             eprintln!("failed to execute lalrpop; exited with {stat}");
-            process::exit(stat.code().unwrap_or(1));
+            let exit_code = stat.code().map(|v| (v % 256) as u8).unwrap_or(1);
+            Err(ExitCode::from(exit_code))
         }
         Err(e) if e.kind() == io::ErrorKind::NotFound => {
             eprintln!(
                 "the lalrpop executable is not installed and parser/{source} has been changed"
             );
             eprintln!("please install lalrpop with `cargo install lalrpop`");
-            process::exit(1);
+            Err(ExitCode::FAILURE)
         }
         Err(e) => panic!("io error {e:#}"),
     }
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index b81fdf95d..8e32124ee 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -47,13 +47,13 @@ mod shell;
 
 use clap::{App, AppSettings, Arg, ArgMatches};
 use rustpython_vm::{scope::Scope, Interpreter, PyResult, Settings, VirtualMachine};
-use std::{env, process, str::FromStr};
+use std::{env, process::ExitCode, str::FromStr};
 
 pub use rustpython_vm as vm;
 
-/// The main cli of the `rustpython` interpreter. This function will exit with `process::exit()`
+/// The main cli of the `rustpython` interpreter. This function will return with `std::process::ExitCode`
 /// based on the return code of the python code ran through the cli.
-pub fn run<F>(init: F) -> !
+pub fn run<F>(init: F) -> ExitCode
 where
     F: FnOnce(&mut VirtualMachine),
 {
@@ -92,8 +92,7 @@ where
             error!("Error writing profile information: {}", e);
         }
     }
-
-    process::exit(exitcode)
+    ExitCode::from(exitcode)
 }
 
 fn parse_arguments<'a>(app: App<'a, '_>) -> ArgMatches<'a> {
@@ -385,7 +384,8 @@ fn create_settings(matches: &ArgMatches) -> Settings {
     };
     settings.hash_seed = hash_seed.unwrap_or_else(|| {
         error!("Fatal Python init error: PYTHONHASHSEED must be \"random\" or an integer in range [0; 4294967295]");
-        process::exit(1)
+        // TODO: Need to change to ExitCode or Termination
+        std::process::exit(1)
     });
 
     settings.argv = argv;
@@ -449,7 +449,8 @@ fn write_profile(matches: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>>
         Some("speedscope") | None => ProfileFormat::Speedscope,
         Some(other) => {
             error!("Unknown profile format {}", other);
-            process::exit(1);
+            // TODO: Need to change to ExitCode or Termination
+            std::process::exit(1);
         }
     };
 
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index fdc9f7037..e88ea40f3 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-pub fn main() {
+pub fn main() -> std::process::ExitCode {
     rustpython::run(|_vm| {})
 }
diff --git a/vm/src/vm/compile.rs b/vm/src/vm/compile.rs
index 401cece01..94d8c3e84 100644
--- a/vm/src/vm/compile.rs
+++ b/vm/src/vm/compile.rs
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ impl VirtualMachine {
             }
             Err(err) => {
                 error!("Failed reading file '{}': {}", path, err);
+                // TODO: Need to change to ExitCode or Termination
                 std::process::exit(1);
             }
         }
diff --git a/vm/src/vm/interpreter.rs b/vm/src/vm/interpreter.rs
index e8b079e27..d8e57ed08 100644
--- a/vm/src/vm/interpreter.rs
+++ b/vm/src/vm/interpreter.rs
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ impl Interpreter {
         thread::enter_vm(&self.vm, || f(&self.vm))
     }
 
-    pub fn run<F, R>(self, f: F) -> i32
+    pub fn run<F, R>(self, f: F) -> u8
     where
         F: FnOnce(&VirtualMachine) -> PyResult<R>,
     {
diff --git a/vm/src/vm/mod.rs b/vm/src/vm/mod.rs
index a4e7bad49..e7e362429 100644
--- a/vm/src/vm/mod.rs
+++ b/vm/src/vm/mod.rs
@@ -678,7 +678,7 @@ impl VirtualMachine {
         }
     }
 
-    pub fn handle_exit_exception(&self, exc: PyBaseExceptionRef) -> i32 {
+    pub fn handle_exit_exception(&self, exc: PyBaseExceptionRef) -> u8 {
         if exc.fast_isinstance(self.ctx.exceptions.system_exit) {
             let args = exc.args();
             let msg = match args.as_slice() {
@@ -686,7 +686,7 @@ impl VirtualMachine {
                 [arg] => match_class!(match arg {
                     ref i @ PyInt => {
                         use num_traits::cast::ToPrimitive;
-                        return i.as_bigint().to_i32().unwrap_or(0);
+                        return i.as_bigint().to_u8().unwrap_or(0);
                     }
                     arg => {
                         if self.is_none(arg) {