diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/net/tfo.c b/tools/testing/selftests/net/tfo.c
index 8d82140f0f76..3b1ee2d3d417 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/net/tfo.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/net/tfo.c
@@ -82,8 +82,10 @@ static void run_server(void)
 		error(1, errno, "getsockopt(SO_INCOMING_NAPI_ID)");
 
 	if (read(connfd, buf, 64) < 0)
-		perror("read()");
-	fprintf(outfile, "%d\n", opt);
+		error(1, errno, "read()");
+
+	if (fprintf(outfile, "%d\n", opt) < 0)
+		error(1, errno, "fprintf()");
 
 	fclose(outfile);
 	close(connfd);
@@ -92,14 +94,17 @@ static void run_server(void)
 
 static void run_client(void)
 {
-	int fd;
+	int fd, ret;
 	char *msg = "Hello, world!";
 
 	fd = socket(AF_INET6, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
 	if (fd == -1)
 		error(1, errno, "socket()");
 
-	sendto(fd, msg, strlen(msg), MSG_FASTOPEN, (struct sockaddr *)&cfg_addr, sizeof(cfg_addr));
+	ret = sendto(fd, msg, strlen(msg), MSG_FASTOPEN,
+		     (struct sockaddr *)&cfg_addr, sizeof(cfg_addr));
+	if (ret < 0)
+		error(1, errno, "sendto()");
 
 	close(fd);
 }
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/net/tfo_passive.sh b/tools/testing/selftests/net/tfo_passive.sh
index a4550511830a..f116f888b794 100755
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/net/tfo_passive.sh
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/net/tfo_passive.sh
@@ -85,12 +85,15 @@ timeout -k 1s 30s ip netns exec nssv ./tfo        \
 				-s                \
 				-p ${SERVER_PORT} \
 				-o ${out_file}&
+server_pid="$!"
 
 wait_local_port_listen nssv ${SERVER_PORT} tcp
 
 ip netns exec nscl ./tfo -c -h ${SERVER_IP} -p ${SERVER_PORT}
+client_exit_status="$?"
 
-wait
+wait "$server_pid"
+server_exit_status="$?"
 
 res=$(cat $out_file)
 rm $out_file
@@ -101,6 +104,14 @@ if [ "$res" = "0" ]; then
 	exit 1
 fi
 
+if [ "$client_exit_status" -ne 0 ] || [ "$server_exit_status" -ne 0 ]; then
+	# Note: timeout(1) exits with 124 if it timed out
+	echo "client exited with ${client_exit_status}"
+	echo "server exited with ${server_exit_status}"
+	cleanup_ns
+	exit 1
+fi
+
 echo "$NSIM_SV_FD:$NSIM_SV_IFIDX" > $NSIM_DEV_SYS_UNLINK
 
 echo $NSIM_CL_ID > $NSIM_DEV_SYS_DEL