diff --git a/bisect.c b/bisect.c
index 837332a..9154f81 100644
--- a/bisect.c
+++ b/bisect.c
@@ -976,10 +976,10 @@
 }
 
 /*
- * We use the convention that exiting with an exit code 10 means that
+ * We use the convention that return BISECT_INTERNAL_SUCCESS_1ST_BAD_FOUND (-10) means
  * the bisection process finished successfully.
- * In this case the calling shell script should exit 0.
- *
+ * In this case the calling function or command should not turn a
+ * BISECT_INTERNAL_SUCCESS_1ST_BAD_FOUND return code into an error or a non zero exit code.
  * If no_checkout is non-zero, the bisection process does not
  * checkout the trial commit but instead simply updates BISECT_HEAD.
  */
@@ -1010,23 +1010,25 @@
 
 	if (!revs.commits) {
 		/*
-		 * We should exit here only if the "bad"
+		 * We should return error here only if the "bad"
 		 * commit is also a "skip" commit.
 		 */
 		res = error_if_skipped_commits(tried, NULL);
 		if (res < 0)
-			exit(-res);
+			return res;
 		printf(_("%s was both %s and %s\n"),
 		       oid_to_hex(current_bad_oid),
 		       term_good,
 		       term_bad);
-		exit(1);
+
+		return BISECT_FAILED;
 	}
 
 	if (!all) {
 		fprintf(stderr, _("No testable commit found.\n"
 			"Maybe you started with bad path parameters?\n"));
-		exit(4);
+
+		return BISECT_NO_TESTABLE_COMMIT;
 	}
 
 	bisect_rev = &revs.commits->item->object.oid;
@@ -1034,12 +1036,19 @@
 	if (oideq(bisect_rev, current_bad_oid)) {
 		res = error_if_skipped_commits(tried, current_bad_oid);
 		if (res)
-			exit(-res);
+			return res;
 		printf("%s is the first %s commit\n", oid_to_hex(bisect_rev),
 			term_bad);
+
 		show_diff_tree(r, prefix, revs.commits->item);
-		/* This means the bisection process succeeded. */
-		exit(10);
+		/*
+		 * This means the bisection process succeeded.
+		 * Using BISECT_INTERNAL_SUCCESS_1ST_BAD_FOUND (-10)
+		 * so that the call chain can simply check
+		 * for negative return values for early returns up
+		 * until the cmd_bisect__helper() caller.
+		 */
+		return BISECT_INTERNAL_SUCCESS_1ST_BAD_FOUND;
 	}
 
 	nr = all - reaches - 1;
diff --git a/bisect.h b/bisect.h
index 0d97581..8bad8d8 100644
--- a/bisect.h
+++ b/bisect.h
@@ -39,16 +39,22 @@
  * BISECT_FAILED error code: default error code.
  * BISECT_ONLY_SKIPPED_LEFT error code: only skipped
  * commits left to be tested.
+ * BISECT_MERGE_BASE_CHECK error code: merge base check failed.
+ * BISECT_NO_TESTABLE_COMMIT error code: no testable commit found.
+ * BISECT_INTERNAL_SUCCESS_1ST_BAD_FOUND early success code:
+ * first term_bad commit found.
  * BISECT_INTERNAL_SUCCESS_MERGE_BASE early success
  * code: found merge base that should be tested.
- * Early success code BISECT_INTERNAL_SUCCESS_MERGE_BASE
- * should be only an internal code.
+ * Early success codes BISECT_INTERNAL_SUCCESS_1ST_BAD_FOUND and
+ * BISECT_INTERNAL_SUCCESS_MERGE_BASE should be only internal codes.
  */
 enum bisect_error {
 	BISECT_OK = 0,
 	BISECT_FAILED = -1,
 	BISECT_ONLY_SKIPPED_LEFT = -2,
 	BISECT_MERGE_BASE_CHECK = -3,
+	BISECT_NO_TESTABLE_COMMIT = -4,
+	BISECT_INTERNAL_SUCCESS_1ST_BAD_FOUND = -10,
 	BISECT_INTERNAL_SUCCESS_MERGE_BASE = -11
 };