diff --git a/pager.c b/pager.c
index e9e121db69..be6f4ee59f 100644
--- a/pager.c
+++ b/pager.c
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ void setup_pager(void)
 	pager_process.in = -1;
 	strvec_push(&pager_process.env, "GIT_PAGER_IN_USE");
 	if (start_command(&pager_process))
-		return;
+		die("unable to execute pager '%s'", pager);
 
 	/* original process continues, but writes to the pipe */
 	dup2(pager_process.in, 1);
diff --git a/t/t7006-pager.sh b/t/t7006-pager.sh
index e56ca5b0fa..932c26cb45 100755
--- a/t/t7006-pager.sh
+++ b/t/t7006-pager.sh
@@ -725,18 +725,11 @@ test_expect_success TTY 'git discards pager non-zero exit without SIGPIPE' '
 	test_path_is_file pager-used
 '
 
-test_expect_success TTY 'git skips paging nonexisting command' '
-	test_when_finished "rm trace.normal" &&
+test_expect_success TTY 'git errors when asked to execute nonexisting pager' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -f err" &&
 	test_config core.pager "does-not-exist" &&
-	GIT_TRACE2="$(pwd)/trace.normal" &&
-	export GIT_TRACE2 &&
-	test_when_finished "unset GIT_TRACE2" &&
-
-	test_terminal git log &&
-
-	grep child_exit trace.normal >child-exits &&
-	test_line_count = 1 child-exits &&
-	grep " code:-1 " child-exits
+	test_must_fail test_terminal git log 2>err &&
+	test_grep "unable to execute pager" err
 '
 
 test_expect_success TTY 'git returns SIGPIPE on propagated signals from pager' '
@@ -762,7 +755,7 @@ test_expect_success TTY 'git returns SIGPIPE on propagated signals from pager' '
 
 test_expect_success TTY 'non-existent pager doesnt cause crash' '
 	test_config pager.show invalid-pager &&
-	test_terminal git show
+	test_must_fail test_terminal git show
 '
 
 test_done