diff --git a/scripts/setup/install b/scripts/setup/install
index 2f6b557ce0..75ed0fb768 100755
--- a/scripts/setup/install
+++ b/scripts/setup/install
@@ -1,9 +1,21 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
-set -o pipefail
 if [ "$EUID" -ne 0 ]; then
     echo "Error: The installation script must be run as root" >&2
     exit 1
 fi
 mkdir -p /var/log/zulip
+
 "$(dirname "$(dirname "$0")")/lib/install" "$@" 2>&1 | tee -a /var/log/zulip/install.log
+failed=${PIPESTATUS[0]}
+
+if [ $failed = 1 ]; then
+    echo -e "\033[0;31m"
+    echo "Zulip installation failed!"
+    echo
+    echo -n "The install process is designed to be idempotent, so you can retry "
+    echo -n "after resolving whatever issue caused the failure (there should be a traceback above). "
+    echo -n "A log of this installation is available in /var/log/zulip/install.log"
+    echo -e "\033[0m"
+    exit 1
+fi