1 files changed, 6 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/src/main/scala/chisel3/Driver.scala b/src/main/scala/chisel3/Driver.scala
index 5e0a3a0f..190b36bf 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/chisel3/Driver.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/chisel3/Driver.scala
@@ -86,14 +86,17 @@ trait BackendCompilationUtilities {
   def executeExpectingFailure(
       prefix: String,
       dir: File,
-      assertionMsg: String = "Assertion failed"): Boolean = {
+      assertionMsg: String = ""): Boolean = {
     var triggered = false
+    val assertionMessageSupplied = assertionMsg != ""
     val e = Process(s"./V${prefix}", dir) !
       ProcessLogger(line => {
-        triggered = triggered || line.contains(assertionMsg)
+        triggered = triggered || (assertionMessageSupplied && line.contains(assertionMsg))
         System.out.println(line) // scalastyle:ignore regex
       })
-    triggered
+    // Fail if a line contained an assertion or if we get a non-zero exit code
+    //  or, we get a SIGABRT (assertion failure) and we didn't provide a specific assertion message
+    triggered || (e != 0 && (e != 134 || !assertionMessageSupplied))
   }
 
   def executeExpectingSuccess(prefix: String, dir: File): Boolean = {