diff --git a/numbuf/build.sh b/numbuf/build.sh
index 087c1471f..5f3401801 100755
--- a/numbuf/build.sh
+++ b/numbuf/build.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
+# Cause the script to exit if a single command fails.
+set -e
+
 ROOT_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE:-$0}")"; pwd)
 
 # Determine how many parallel jobs to use for make based on the number of cores
diff --git a/numbuf/setup.sh b/numbuf/setup.sh
index 02a5acd73..c807ec84f 100755
--- a/numbuf/setup.sh
+++ b/numbuf/setup.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
+# Cause the script to exit if a single command fails.
+set -e
+
 ROOT_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE:-$0}")"; pwd)
 
 platform="unknown"
diff --git a/numbuf/thirdparty/build_thirdparty.sh b/numbuf/thirdparty/build_thirdparty.sh
index c1cbf9db9..2e1421f10 100755
--- a/numbuf/thirdparty/build_thirdparty.sh
+++ b/numbuf/thirdparty/build_thirdparty.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 set -x
+
+# Cause the script to exit if a single command fails.
 set -e
 
 TP_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE:-$0}")"; pwd)
diff --git a/numbuf/thirdparty/download_thirdparty.sh b/numbuf/thirdparty/download_thirdparty.sh
index ff5cad62e..b9fdc1c1e 100755
--- a/numbuf/thirdparty/download_thirdparty.sh
+++ b/numbuf/thirdparty/download_thirdparty.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 set -x
+
+# Cause the script to exit if a single command fails.
 set -e
 
 TP_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE:-$0}")"; pwd)