diff --git a/checks.c b/checks.c
index f0e7505..0a34109 100644
--- a/checks.c
+++ b/checks.c
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ static int check_phandles(struct node *root, struct node *node)
 	for_each_child(node, child)
 		ok = ok && check_phandles(root, child);
 
-	return 1;
+	return ok;
 }
 
 int check_structure(struct node *dt)
diff --git a/dtc.c b/dtc.c
index bbef829..602b296 100644
--- a/dtc.c
+++ b/dtc.c
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if (!structure_ok) {
 		if (!force) {
 			fprintf(stderr, "ERROR: Input tree has structural errors, aborting (use -f to force output)\n");
-			exit(1);
+			exit(2);
 		} else if (quiet < 3) {
 			fprintf(stderr, "Warning: Input tree has structural errors, output forced\n");
 		}
diff --git a/tests/dtc-checkfails.sh b/tests/dtc-checkfails.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..0a45a0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/dtc-checkfails.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#! /bin/sh
+
+. tests.sh
+
+TMPFILE="tmp.out.$$"
+
+rm -f $TMPFILE
+
+verbose_run "$DTC" -o $TMPFILE "$@"
+ret="$?"
+
+if [ -f $TMPFILE ]; then
+    FAIL "output file was created despite bad input"
+fi
+
+if [ "$ret" = "2" ]; then
+    PASS
+else
+    FAIL "dtc returned error code $ret instead of 2 (check failed)"
+fi
+
+rm -f $TMPFILE
diff --git a/tests/dtc.sh b/tests/dtc.sh
index f704f55..c5a7324 100755
--- a/tests/dtc.sh
+++ b/tests/dtc.sh
@@ -1,24 +1,6 @@
 #! /bin/sh
 
-PASS () {
-    echo "PASS"
-    exit 0
-}
-
-FAIL () {
-    echo "FAIL" "$@"
-    exit 2
-}
-
-DTC=../dtc
-
-verbose_run () {
-    if [ -z "$QUIET_TEST" ]; then
-	"$@"
-    else
-	"$@" > /dev/null 2> /dev/null
-    fi
-}
+. tests.sh
 
 if verbose_run "$DTC" "$@"; then
     PASS
diff --git a/tests/dup-nodename.dts b/tests/dup-nodename.dts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2a3aa75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/dup-nodename.dts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+/dts-v1/;
+
+/ {
+	node {
+	};
+	node {
+	};
+};
diff --git a/tests/dup-phandle.dts b/tests/dup-phandle.dts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c266c61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/dup-phandle.dts
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+/dts-v1/;
+
+/ {
+	node1 {
+		linux,phandle = <1>;
+	};
+	node2 {
+		linux,phandle = <1>;
+	};
+};
diff --git a/tests/dup-propname.dts b/tests/dup-propname.dts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8145f6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/dup-propname.dts
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+/dts-v1/;
+
+/ {
+	prop;
+	prop;
+};
diff --git a/tests/minusone-phandle.dts b/tests/minusone-phandle.dts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21d9986
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/minusone-phandle.dts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+/dts-v1/;
+
+/ {
+	node {
+		linux,phandle = <0xffffffff>;
+	};
+};
diff --git a/tests/run_tests.sh b/tests/run_tests.sh
index 9ae2a12..2a41d43 100755
--- a/tests/run_tests.sh
+++ b/tests/run_tests.sh
@@ -142,6 +142,12 @@ dtc_tests () {
 	run_test dtbs_equal_ordered $tree odts_$tree.test.dtb
     done
 
+    # Check some checks
+    run_test dtc-checkfails.sh -I dts -O dtb dup-nodename.dts
+    run_test dtc-checkfails.sh -I dts -O dtb dup-propname.dts
+    run_test dtc-checkfails.sh -I dts -O dtb dup-phandle.dts
+    run_test dtc-checkfails.sh -I dts -O dtb zero-phandle.dts
+    run_test dtc-checkfails.sh -I dts -O dtb minusone-phandle.dts
 }
 
 while getopts "vdt:" ARG ; do
diff --git a/tests/tests.sh b/tests/tests.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..396b4cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/tests.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# Common functions for shell testcases
+
+PASS () {
+    echo "PASS"
+    exit 0
+}
+
+FAIL () {
+    echo "FAIL" "$@"
+    exit 2
+}
+
+DTC=../dtc
+
+verbose_run () {
+    if [ -z "$QUIET_TEST" ]; then
+	"$@"
+    else
+	"$@" > /dev/null 2> /dev/null
+    fi
+}
diff --git a/tests/zero-phandle.dts b/tests/zero-phandle.dts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7997d98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/zero-phandle.dts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+/dts-v1/;
+
+/ {
+	node {
+		linux,phandle = <0>;
+	};
+};