diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 130a54430092c99a8a2118308953f9f1d3089baf..18ed157f8a58a372f9c97514749488c9f8445015 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ version 0.9.7 -- UNRELEASED
     handler changes
 	ldap:
 	 . Use gzip's --rsyncable option.
+	 . Use bash pipefail option when needed so that failed dumps are
+	   reported as such.
 	maildir:
 	 . fix location of deleted_on file
 	 . add missing destid_file options to ssh connections
@@ -32,10 +34,14 @@ version 0.9.7 -- UNRELEASED
 	 . Use gzip's --rsyncable option.
 	 . Quote output filenames to support shell meta-characters in
 	   database names.
+	 . Use bash pipefail option when needed so that failed dumps are
+	   reported as such.
 	pgsql:
 	 . Use gzip's --rsyncable option.
 	 . Quote output filenames to support shell meta-characters in
 	   database names.
+	 . Use bash pipefail option when needed so that failed dumps are
+	   reported as such.
 	sys:
 	 . New luksheaders option (default=disabled) to backup the Luks header
 	   of every Luks device.
diff --git a/handlers/ldap.in b/handlers/ldap.in
index 853cefb55ce2e0126a00c822b0c7c5cafca5a726..fda24d08878304f044821d08c5608cfde171402f 100644
--- a/handlers/ldap.in
+++ b/handlers/ldap.in
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ if [ "$ldif" == "yes" ]; then
             execstr="$execstr > $dumpdir/$dbsuffix.ldif"
          fi
          debug "$execstr"
-         output=`su root -c "$execstr" 2>&1`
+         output=`su root -c "set -o pipefail ; $execstr" 2>&1`
          code=$?
          if [ "$code" == "0" ]; then
             debug $output
diff --git a/handlers/mysql.in b/handlers/mysql.in
index f3230ad3ede61e1c2278c9a4ad1f63757aa3b3e0..3488c511becd6ecd8f247d4f2f476f9303d2fcbd 100644
--- a/handlers/mysql.in
+++ b/handlers/mysql.in
@@ -237,14 +237,14 @@ then
    then
       if [ $usevserver = yes ]
       then
-         debug 'echo show databases | $VSERVER $vsname exec su $user -c \"$MYSQL $defaultsfile\" | grep -v Database'
-         databases=`echo 'show databases' | $VSERVER $vsname exec su $user -c "$MYSQL $defaultsfile" | grep -v Database`
+         debug 'set -o pipefail ; echo show databases | $VSERVER $vsname exec su $user -c \"$MYSQL $defaultsfile\" | grep -v Database'
+         databases=`set -o pipefail ; echo 'show databases' | $VSERVER $vsname exec su $user -c "$MYSQL $defaultsfile" | grep -v Database`
          if [ $? -ne 0 ]
          then
             fatal "Authentication problem, maybe user/password is wrong or mysqld is not running?"
          fi
       else
-         databases=$(su $user -c "$MYSQL $defaultsfile -N -B -e 'show databases'" | sed 's/|//g;/\+----/d')
+         databases=$(set -o pipefail ; su $user -c "$MYSQL $defaultsfile -N -B -e 'show databases'" | sed 's/|//g;/\+----/d')
          if [ $? -ne 0 ]
          then
             fatal "Authentication problem, maybe user/password is wrong or mysqld is not running?"
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ then
       debug "su $user -c \"$execstr\""
       if [ ! $test ]
       then
-         output=`su $user -c "$execstr" 2>&1`
+         output=`su $user -c "set -o pipefail ; $execstr" 2>&1`
          code=$?
          if [ "$code" == "0" ]
          then
diff --git a/handlers/pgsql.in b/handlers/pgsql.in
index d7839fb53832bd68b505c615d3d5f31ff3a777bd..77a73fee98ed7f4f7d90ceff53bb56743b0501f0 100644
--- a/handlers/pgsql.in
+++ b/handlers/pgsql.in
@@ -75,13 +75,13 @@ chmod 700 $vroot$backupdir
 if [ "$databases" == "all" ]; then
    if [ $usevserver = yes ]; then
       if [ "$compress" == "yes" ]; then
-         execstr="$VSERVER $vsname exec su - $PGSQLUSER -c \"$PGSQLDUMPALL | $GZIP --rsyncable > '$backupdir/${vsname}.sql.gz'\""
+         execstr="$VSERVER $vsname exec su - $PGSQLUSER -c \"set -o pipefail ; $PGSQLDUMPALL | $GZIP --rsyncable > '$backupdir/${vsname}.sql.gz'\""
       else
          execstr="$VSERVER $vsname exec su - $PGSQLUSER -c \"$PGSQLDUMPALL > '$backupdir/${vsname}.sql'\""
       fi
    else
       if [ "$compress" == "yes" ]; then
-         execstr="su - $PGSQLUSER -c \"$PGSQLDUMPALL | $GZIP --rsyncable > '$backupdir/${localhost}-all.sql.gz'\""
+         execstr="su - $PGSQLUSER -c \"set -o pipefail ; $PGSQLDUMPALL | $GZIP --rsyncable > '$backupdir/${localhost}-all.sql.gz'\""
       else
          execstr="su - $PGSQLUSER -c \"$PGSQLDUMPALL > '$backupdir/${localhost}-all.sql'\""
       fi
@@ -104,13 +104,13 @@ else
    for db in $databases; do
       if [ $usevserver = yes ]; then
          if [ "$compress" == "yes" ]; then
-            execstr="$VSERVER $vsname exec su - $PGSQLUSER -c \"$PGSQLDUMP $db | $GZIP --rsyncable > '$backupdir/${db}.sql.gz'\""
+            execstr="$VSERVER $vsname exec su - $PGSQLUSER -c \"set -o pipefail ; $PGSQLDUMP $db | $GZIP --rsyncable > '$backupdir/${db}.sql.gz'\""
          else
             execstr="$VSERVER $vsname exec su - $PGSQLUSER -c \"$PGSQLDUMP $db | > '$backupdir/${db}.sql'\""
          fi
       else
          if [ "$compress" == "yes" ]; then
-            execstr="su - $PGSQLUSER -c \"$PGSQLDUMP $db | $GZIP --rsyncable > '$backupdir/${db}.sql.gz'\""
+            execstr="su - $PGSQLUSER -c \"set -o pipefail ; $PGSQLDUMP $db | $GZIP --rsyncable > '$backupdir/${db}.sql.gz'\""
          else
             execstr="su - $PGSQLUSER -c \"$PGSQLDUMP $db > '$backupdir/${db}.sql'\""
          fi