diff --git a/src/packaging/MacOS/Uninstall b/src/packaging/MacOS/Uninstall
index dabef2d175..22526f425c 100755
--- a/src/packaging/MacOS/Uninstall
+++ b/src/packaging/MacOS/Uninstall
@@ -76,8 +76,7 @@ sub main
     if ($do_nothing == 0) {
     my @rmcmd = ('osascript', '-e', "do shell script \"/bin/rm -f @rmfiles; /bin/rmdir @rmdirs; /bin/rm -rf @rmpkg\" with administrator privileges");
     system @rmcmd;
-    my $retcode = $? >> 8;
-    if ($retcode != 0) {
+    if ($? != 0) {
            print_warning ("Warning:  There may have been a problem uninstalling\n");
     }
     }
diff --git a/src/packaging/MacOS/Uninstall.14.15 b/src/packaging/MacOS/Uninstall.14.15
index e7b8dc8bfb..662a94687f 100755
--- a/src/packaging/MacOS/Uninstall.14.15
+++ b/src/packaging/MacOS/Uninstall.14.15
@@ -82,8 +82,7 @@ sub main {
 		    "echo @rmpkg | xargs -n 1 /usr/sbin/pkgutil --forget\" " .
 		    "with administrator privileges' | tr '\\r' '\\n'";
 	system $rmcmd;
-	my $retcode = $? >> 8;
-	if ($retcode != 0) {
+	if ($? != 0) {
 	    print_warning ("Warning:  There may have been a problem uninstalling\n");
 	}
     }
diff --git a/src/packaging/MacOS/notarize.pl b/src/packaging/MacOS/notarize.pl
index d39b3ecfe0..e20d93f3af 100755
--- a/src/packaging/MacOS/notarize.pl
+++ b/src/packaging/MacOS/notarize.pl
@@ -63,10 +63,9 @@ sub check_prerequisites {
 
     # Check if the given keychain-profile exists
     my $output = qx(xcrun notarytool history --keychain-profile "$profile" 2>&1);
-    my $exitcode = $? >> 8;
-
-    if ($exitcode) {
-	print(STDERR "error: $exitcode\n");
+    if ($? != 0) {
+	my $exitcode = $? >> 8;
+	print(STDERR "error: exit code $exitcode (status $?)\n");
 	print(STDERR $output);
 	exit(1);
     }
@@ -86,10 +85,9 @@ sub process_package {
     # returns after submitting and processing the package, or times out if it
     # takes longer than 5 minutes
     my $output = qx(xcrun notarytool submit "$package" --keychain-profile "$profile" --wait --timeout 5m 2>&1);
-    my $exitcode = $? >> 8;
-
-    if ($exitcode) {
-	print(STDERR "error: $exitcode\n");
+    if ($? != 0) {
+	my $exitcode = $? >> 8;
+	print(STDERR "error: exit code $exitcode (status $?)\n");
 	print(STDERR $output);
 	exit(1);
     }
@@ -120,10 +118,10 @@ sub notarize_package {
     print(STDOUT "notarize.pl: notarizing package...\n");
 
     my $output = qx(xcrun stapler staple -v "$package" 2>&1);
-    my $exitcode = $? >> 8;
-
-    if ($exitcode) {
+    if ($? != 0) {
+	my $exitcode = $? >> 8;
 	print(STDERR "error: package could not be notarized (uuid: $uuid)\n");
+	print(STDERR "error: exit code $exitcode (status $?)\n");
 	print(STDERR $output);
 	exit(1);
     }