diff --git a/misc/core.func b/misc/core.func
index e0bc6debc..ea4bd828d 100644
--- a/misc/core.func
+++ b/misc/core.func
@@ -115,9 +115,9 @@ silent() {
 
 run_curl() {
   if [ "$VERB" = "no" ]; then
-    curl "$@" 2>/tmp/curl_error.log >/dev/null
+    curl "$@" >/dev/null 2>>/tmp/curl_error.log
   else
-    curl "$@"
+    curl "$@" 2>>/tmp/curl_error.log
   fi
 }
 
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ curl_handler() {
 
   if [[ -z "$url" ]]; then
     msg_error "no valid url or option entered for curl_handler"
-    return 1
+    exit 1
   fi
 
   $STD msg_info "Fetching: $url"
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ curl_handler() {
         rm -f /tmp/curl_error.log
       fi
       __curl_err_handler "$exit_code" "$url" "$curl_stderr"
-      return 1
+      exit 1 # hard exit if exit_code is not 0
     fi
 
     $STD printf "\r\033[K${INFO}${YW}Retry $attempt/$max_retries in ${delay}s...${CL}" >&2