diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-tarball.yml b/.github/workflows/release-tarball.yml
index bdff724c..eeb4ecf8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-tarball.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-tarball.yml
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ jobs:
           TARBALL=$(find . -maxdepth 1 -name "*.tar.gz" | head -n 1)
           if [ -z "$TARBALL" ]; then
             echo "Error: No tarball found" >&2
+            exit 1
           fi
           echo "tarball=$TARBALL" >> $GITHUB_ENV