diff --git a/src/ffmpeg.rs b/src/ffmpeg.rs
index df2d6e7..56635cb 100644
--- a/src/ffmpeg.rs
+++ b/src/ffmpeg.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ use std::{
     process::Stdio,
 };
 
-use color_eyre::eyre::{ContextCompat, Result};
+use color_eyre::eyre::{ContextCompat, Result, bail};
+use futures::channel::oneshot;
 use relm4::{
     Sender,
     tokio::{
@@ -136,11 +137,10 @@ pub async fn convert_video(
     let mut reader = BufReader::new(stdout).lines();
 
     // make sure the process is actually started and awaited
+    let (tx, rx) = oneshot::channel();
     tokio::spawn(async move {
-        child
-            .wait()
-            .await
-            .expect("ffmpeg process encountered an error");
+        tx.send(child.wait().await)
+            .expect("could not send exit status");
     });
 
     while let Some(line) = reader.next_line().await? {
@@ -157,5 +157,10 @@ pub async fn convert_video(
         }
     }
 
+    let status = rx.await??;
+    if !status.success() {
+        bail!("ffmpeg process errored: {status}");
+    }
+
     Ok(out_path)
 }