diff --git a/builtin.c b/builtin.c
index e407c9765..4b30dce07 100644
--- a/builtin.c
+++ b/builtin.c
@@ -2476,7 +2476,7 @@ static int builtin_begin( wchar_t **argv )
 {
 	parser_push_block( BEGIN );
 	current_block->tok_pos = parser_get_pos();
-	return 0;
+	return proc_get_last_status();
 }
 
 
diff --git a/doc_src/begin.txt b/doc_src/begin.txt
index b955376de..07ef10e0d 100644
--- a/doc_src/begin.txt
+++ b/doc_src/begin.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ into a block. The reason for this is usually either to introduce a new
 variable scope or to redirect the input to output of this set of
 commands as a group.
 
+The \c begin command does not change the current exit status.
+
 \subsection begin-example Example
 
 The following code sets a number of variables inside of a block
diff --git a/doc_src/end.txt b/doc_src/end.txt
index b98aef822..3b61e9d35 100644
--- a/doc_src/end.txt
+++ b/doc_src/end.txt
@@ -13,4 +13,4 @@ begin; [COMMANDS...] end
 documentation for the block constructs, such as \c if, \c for and \
 while.
 
-The end command does not change the current exit status.
+The \c end command does not change the current exit status.