diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1640a7114a8cd23d0253e02b8024c039e34f81bf..5469374479102d0b4d2d6392830bf166b86251b8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Fixed
+
+- [core] silence exit code message unless --debug is used
+
 ## [1.2.0] - 2021-01-21
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/src/backupninja.in b/src/backupninja.in
index 5157efc04267d5d00a6a4fc96495f3c4cf67b639..985241b8bb3bea0a4eff7bffc5626e10967720a7 100755
--- a/src/backupninja.in
+++ b/src/backupninja.in
@@ -376,8 +376,8 @@ function process_action() {
             done
          )
          retcode=${PIPESTATUS[0]}
-         debug "handler returned exit code $retcode"
          echo_debug_msg=0
+         debug "handler returned exit code $retcode"
 
       else
          # a backup is probably ongoing already, so display an error message