diff --git a/BuildUtils.pm b/BuildUtils.pm
index ce4078d8c..dcefcebf3 100644
--- a/BuildUtils.pm
+++ b/BuildUtils.pm
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ our @EXPORT_OK = qw(
     lock_id_for take_build_lock
     sh_quote clean_debian_residue git_revision
     backup_file restore_file
-    sh usage
+    sh sh_or_die usage
     rewrite_file write_script read_line
     buildinfo_text
 );
@@ -115,6 +115,20 @@ sub sh {
 
 # pod2usage reads the POD of the running program, so each builder keeps its own
 # help text while sharing the way it is printed and the status it exits with.
+# Run a command and stop the build when it fails.  The same operation was
+# spelled in opposite polarities -- `sh(...) == 0 or die` in builddebs.pl,
+# `sh(...) and die` in buildrpms.pl, which also used both -- and the `and die`
+# form reads as though the die is what happens next rather than what happens on
+# failure.  One name, one direction, and the exit code lands in the message.
+sub sh_or_die {
+    my ($cmd, $message) = @_;
+    my $rc = sh($cmd);
+    return 0 if $rc == 0;
+    $message = "FATAL: command failed: $cmd" unless defined $message;
+    $message =~ s/\n\z//;
+    die "$message (exit $rc)\n";
+}
+
 sub usage {
     my (%args) = @_;
     pod2usage(
diff --git a/builddebs.pl b/builddebs.pl
index 2f4e49b1b..60de1dafd 100755
--- a/builddebs.pl
+++ b/builddebs.pl
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ use BuildUtils qw(
     pin_control_version rewrite_changelog_header
     reprepro_distributions reprepro_options
     lock_id_for take_build_lock sh_quote
-    sh usage rewrite_file write_script read_line buildinfo_text
+    sh sh_or_die usage rewrite_file write_script read_line buildinfo_text
 );
 
 # The xcat-core packages that ship as debs. xCAT-openbmc-py, xCAT-rmc and xCAT-release
@@ -223,17 +223,17 @@ sub build_package {
             if ($text =~ /3\.0 \(quilt\)/) {
                 my $tar = "$ROOT/" . orig_tarball_name($pkg, $PKGVER);
                 unless (-f $tar) {
-                    sh(sprintf('tar czf %s --exclude debian -C %s .',
-                               sh_quote($tar), sh_quote($dir))) == 0
-                        or die "FATAL: could not create $tar\n";
+                    sh_or_die(sprintf('tar czf %s --exclude debian -C %s .',
+                               sh_quote($tar), sh_quote($dir)),
+            "FATAL: could not create $tar\n");
                 }
             }
         }
 
         my $arch_flag = $arch eq 'all' ? '' : " -a$arch";
         my $quiet = $opts{verbose} ? '' : ' >/dev/null';
-        sh("cd " . sh_quote($dir) . " && dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -uc -us$arch_flag$quiet") == 0
-            or die "FATAL: dpkg-buildpackage failed for $pkg ($arch)\n";
+        sh_or_die("cd " . sh_quote($dir) . " && dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -uc -us$arch_flag$quiet",
+            "FATAL: dpkg-buildpackage failed for $pkg ($arch)\n");
     });
 
     return;
@@ -301,9 +301,9 @@ sub assemble_repo {
         for my $deb (@debs) {
             # A release that predates an architecture must not be handed its packages.
             next if basename($deb) =~ /_(\w+)\.deb\z/ && $1 ne 'all' && !$ok{$1};
-            sh("cd " . sh_quote($repodir) . " && reprepro -b ./ includedeb "
-               . sh_quote($dist) . ' ' . sh_quote($deb)) == 0
-                or die "FATAL: reprepro could not add $deb to $dist\n";
+            sh_or_die("cd " . sh_quote($repodir) . " && reprepro -b ./ includedeb "
+               . sh_quote($dist) . ' ' . sh_quote($deb),
+            "FATAL: reprepro could not add $deb to $dist\n");
         }
     }
     return scalar @debs;
diff --git a/buildrpms.pl b/buildrpms.pl
index f7a6ca49f..f5fe76993 100755
--- a/buildrpms.pl
+++ b/buildrpms.pl
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ use File::Slurper qw(read_text write_text);
 use File::Temp qw(tempdir tempfile);
 use FindBin qw($Bin);
 use lib $Bin;
-use BuildUtils qw(git_revision source_date_epoch sh usage buildinfo_text write_script
-                  read_line);
+use BuildUtils qw(git_revision source_date_epoch sh sh_or_die usage buildinfo_text
+                  write_script read_line);
 use Fcntl qw(:flock);           # per-target build lock (concurrency guard; see main())
 use Getopt::Long qw(GetOptions);
 use POSIX qw(strftime);
@@ -342,14 +342,14 @@ sub buildsources_genesis_base($) {
     remove_tree($staging_parent) if -e $staging_parent;
     make_path("$staging_root/dracut_105");
 
-    sh(qq(cp -a "xCAT-genesis-builder/dracut_105" "$staging_root/"))
-        and die "Error copying dracut_105 sources";
+    sh_or_die(qq(cp -a "xCAT-genesis-builder/dracut_105" "$staging_root/"),
+        "Error copying dracut_105 sources");
     cp "xCAT-genesis-builder/80-net-name-slot.rules",
        "$staging_root/80-net-name-slot.rules";
 
     unlink $support_tarball if -f $support_tarball;
-    sh(qq(tar --sort=name --owner=0 --group=0 --mtime="\@$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH" -cjf "$support_tarball" -C "$staging_parent" xCAT-genesis-base-build-support))
-        and die "Error creating $support_tarball";
+    sh_or_die(qq(tar --sort=name --owner=0 --group=0 --mtime="\@$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH" -cjf "$support_tarball" -C "$staging_parent" xCAT-genesis-base-build-support),
+        "Error creating $support_tarball");
 
     remove_tree($staging_parent);
 }
@@ -360,8 +360,8 @@ sub prepare_xcat_probe_source_tar {
     my $helper_dir = "$staging_root/lib/perl/xCAT";
     my $source_tarball = "$SOURCES/xCAT-probe-$VERSION.tar.gz";
 
-    sh(qq(cp -a "xCAT-probe" "$staging_root"))
-        and die "Error staging xCAT-probe sources";
+    sh_or_die(qq(cp -a "xCAT-probe" "$staging_root"),
+        "Error staging xCAT-probe sources");
 
     remove_tree($helper_dir) if -e $helper_dir;
     make_path($helper_dir);
@@ -379,8 +379,8 @@ sub prepare_xcat_probe_source_tar {
     );
     close $archive_fh;
 
-    sh(qq(tar --sort=name --owner=0 --group=0 --numeric-owner --mtime="\@$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH" --use-compress-program="gzip -n" -cf "$archive_path" -C "$staging_parent" xCAT-probe))
-        and die "Error creating $source_tarball";
+    sh_or_die(qq(tar --sort=name --owner=0 --group=0 --numeric-owner --mtime="\@$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH" --use-compress-program="gzip -n" -cf "$archive_path" -C "$staging_parent" xCAT-probe),
+        "Error creating $source_tarball");
 
     chmod 0644, $archive_path;
     rename $archive_path, $source_tarball;
@@ -661,9 +661,9 @@ sub setup_local_repos {
 sub createrepo_dir {
     my ($dir, $extra) = @_;
     $extra //= '';
-    sh(qq(createrepo_c --update --database )
-       . qq(--revision "$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH" --set-timestamp-to-revision $extra "$dir"))
-        and die "Failed to createrepo_c $dir\n";
+    sh_or_die(qq(createrepo_c --update --database )
+       . qq(--revision "$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH" --set-timestamp-to-revision $extra "$dir"),
+        "Failed to createrepo_c $dir\n");
 }
 
 # A core repo dir holds binaries flat plus a SRPMS/ subdir carrying its own
@@ -727,15 +727,15 @@ sub sign_repo_dir {
     say "Signing RPMs in $repodir";
     my @bin = glob("$repodir/*.rpm");
     if (@bin) {
-        sh(qq(rpmsign --define "%_gpg_name $key_name" --addsign )
-           . join(" ", map { qq("$_") } @bin))
-            and die "Failed to sign RPMs in $repodir";
+        sh_or_die(qq(rpmsign --define "%_gpg_name $key_name" --addsign )
+           . join(" ", map { qq("$_") } @bin),
+        "Failed to sign RPMs in $repodir");
     }
     my @src = glob("$repodir/SRPMS/*.src.rpm");
     if (@src) {
-        sh(qq(rpmsign --define "%_gpg_name $key_name" --addsign )
-           . join(" ", map { qq("$_") } @src))
-            and die "Failed to sign SRPMs in $repodir/SRPMS";
+        sh_or_die(qq(rpmsign --define "%_gpg_name $key_name" --addsign )
+           . join(" ", map { qq("$_") } @src),
+        "Failed to sign SRPMs in $repodir/SRPMS");
     }
 
     # Regenerate both indexes (binary + SRPMS) after signing, before signing repomd.
@@ -747,10 +747,10 @@ sub sign_repo_dir {
         next unless -f $repomd;
         say "Signing $repomd";
         unlink "$repomd.asc" if -f "$repomd.asc";
-        sh(qq(gpg -a --detach-sign --default-key "$key_name" "$repomd"))
-            and die "Failed to sign $repomd";
-        sh(qq(gpg -a --export "$key_name" > "$rd/repomd.xml.key"))
-            and die "Failed to export public key to $rd";
+        sh_or_die(qq(gpg -a --detach-sign --default-key "$key_name" "$repomd"),
+        "Failed to sign $repomd");
+        sh_or_die(qq(gpg -a --export "$key_name" > "$rd/repomd.xml.key"),
+        "Failed to export public key to $rd");
     }
 }
 
@@ -832,11 +832,12 @@ sub merge_core_repos {
     die "FATAL: --merge-core-repos requires at least one --input-core-repos dir\n" unless @ins;
     -d $_ or die "FATAL: --input-core-repos dir '$_' does not exist\n" for @ins;
 
-    sh(qq(rm -rf "$out")) and die "Failed to clean output dir '$out'\n";
+    sh_or_die(qq(rm -rf "$out"),
+        "Failed to clean output dir '$out'\n");
     make_path($out);
     for my $in (@ins) {
-        sh(qq(rsync -a --exclude 'repodata/' "$in/" "$out/"))
-            and die "Failed to rsync '$in' into '$out'\n";
+        sh_or_die(qq(rsync -a --exclude 'repodata/' "$in/" "$out/"),
+        "Failed to rsync '$in' into '$out'\n");
     }
 
     # Index, sign (when --gpg-sign), write the final repository metadata, then create the
diff --git a/xCAT-test/unit/build_utils.t b/xCAT-test/unit/build_utils.t
index 34dd9af72..1971b39ad 100644
--- a/xCAT-test/unit/build_utils.t
+++ b/xCAT-test/unit/build_utils.t
@@ -427,4 +427,24 @@ isnt( git_revision( git => sub { '' }, read_file => sub { '' } ), '',
     like( $out, qr/\ARunning: true/, 'a verbose run echoes the command' );
 }
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------- sh_or_die() --
+# The same run-or-fail step was written `sh(...) == 0 or die` in one builder
+# and `sh(...) and die` in the other -- which also used both spellings itself.
+# Reversed polarities for one operation are easy to misread, so there is now a
+# single name with a single direction.
+{
+    is( BuildUtils::sh_or_die('true'), 0,
+        'a command that succeeds returns 0 and does not die' );
+
+    my $err = eval { BuildUtils::sh_or_die('sh -c "exit 4"', 'FATAL: it failed'); 1 }
+        ? '' : $@;
+    like( $err, qr/FATAL: it failed/, 'a failure dies with the caller\'s message' );
+    like( $err, qr/exit 4/,
+        'and names the exit code, which the old spellings threw away' );
+
+    my $bare = eval { BuildUtils::sh_or_die('sh -c "exit 5"'); 1 } ? '' : $@;
+    like( $bare, qr/\Qsh -c "exit 5"\E/,
+        'a caller with no message still gets the command that failed' );
+}
+
 done_testing();