diff --git a/src/dumm/ext/dumm.c b/src/dumm/ext/dumm.c
index 39162293d..a9c7cb8bd 100644
--- a/src/dumm/ext/dumm.c
+++ b/src/dumm/ext/dumm.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (C) 2008-2009 Tobias Brunner
+ * Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Tobias Brunner
  * Copyright (C) 2008 Martin Willi
  * Hochschule fuer Technik Rapperswil
  *
@@ -240,11 +240,9 @@ static VALUE guest_exec(VALUE self, VALUE cmd)
 
 	block = rb_block_given_p();
 	Data_Get_Struct(self, guest_t, guest);
-	if ((ret = guest->exec_str(guest, block ? (void*)exec_cb : NULL, TRUE, NULL,
-					"exec %s", StringValuePtr(cmd))) != 0)
-	{
-		rb_raise(rb_eRuntimeError, "executing command failed (%d)", ret);
-	}
+	ret = guest->exec_str(guest, block ? (void*)exec_cb : NULL, TRUE, NULL,
+						  "exec %s", StringValuePtr(cmd));
+	rb_iv_set(self, "@execstatus", INT2NUM(ret));
 	return self;
 }
 
@@ -411,6 +409,8 @@ static void guest_init()
 	rb_define_method(rbc_guest, "add_overlay", guest_add_overlay, 1);
 	rb_define_method(rbc_guest, "del_overlay", guest_del_overlay, 1);
 	rb_define_method(rbc_guest, "pop_overlay", guest_pop_overlay, 0);
+
+	rb_define_attr(rbc_guest, "execstatus", 1, 0);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/dumm/ext/lib/dumm/guest.rb b/src/dumm/ext/lib/dumm/guest.rb
index e689cc065..7488f1358 100644
--- a/src/dumm/ext/lib/dumm/guest.rb
+++ b/src/dumm/ext/lib/dumm/guest.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 =begin
-  Copyright (C) 2008-2009 Tobias Brunner
+  Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Tobias Brunner
   Hochschule fuer Technik Rapperswil
 
   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ module Dumm
       end
       Guest[id]
     end
-    
+
     # accessor for interfaces
     # e.g. guest.eth0 instead of guest["eth0"]
     def method_missing(id, *args)
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ module Dumm
       end
       self[id]
     end
-    
+
     # remove all overlays, delete all interfaces
     def reset
       while pop_overlay; end
@@ -40,17 +40,13 @@ module Dumm
         i.delete
       }
     end
-    
+
     # has the guest booted up?
     def booted?
-      begin
-        exec("pgrep getty")
-      rescue
-        return false
-      end
-      return true
+      exec("pgrep getty")
+      execstatus == 0
     end
-    
+
     # wait until the guest has booted
     def boot
       while not booted?