diff --git a/Lib/test/test_pyrepl/test_pyrepl.py b/Lib/test/test_pyrepl/test_pyrepl.py
index 41ba5959a1ec34..adc55f28f08a1e 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_pyrepl/test_pyrepl.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_pyrepl/test_pyrepl.py
@@ -890,5 +890,5 @@ def run_repl(self, repl_input: str | list[str], env: dict | None = None) -> tupl
             exit_code = process.wait(timeout=SHORT_TIMEOUT)
         except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
             process.kill()
-            exit_code = process.returncode
+            exit_code = process.wait()
         return "\n".join(output), exit_code