diff --git a/t/perf/perf-lib.sh b/t/perf/perf-lib.sh
index a8c9574291b87d9bb1906a9d61faa9b157178b76..5cf74eddec7552140c5bef14f23fc637a2ad9818 100644
--- a/t/perf/perf-lib.sh
+++ b/t/perf/perf-lib.sh
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ test_perf_create_repo_from () {
 				*/objects|*/hooks|*/config)
 					;;
 				*)
-					cp -R "$stuff" . || break
+					cp -R "$stuff" . || exit 1
 					;;
 			esac
 		done &&