diff --git a/bin/compose b/bin/compose
index 388b784..d9d3728 100755
--- a/bin/compose
+++ b/bin/compose
@@ -2293,7 +2293,7 @@ get_compose_yml_content() {
             err "Unexpected error while running 'shyaml get-value' on '$COMPOSE_YML_FILE':"
             echo "$output" | prefix "  $GRAY|$NORMAL "
         }
-        exit 1
+        return 1
     fi
     echo "$COMPOSE_YML_CONTENT" | tee "$cache_file" || return 1
 }