diff --git a/wlauto/utils/android.py b/wlauto/utils/android.py
index 61656354..6760fdbb 100644
--- a/wlauto/utils/android.py
+++ b/wlauto/utils/android.py
@@ -26,7 +26,9 @@ import logging
 import re
 
 from wlauto.exceptions import DeviceError, ConfigError, HostError, WAError
-from wlauto.utils.misc import check_output, escape_single_quotes, escape_double_quotes, get_null
+from wlauto.utils.misc import (check_output, escape_single_quotes,
+                               escape_double_quotes, get_null,
+                               CalledProcessErrorWithStderr)
 
 
 MAX_TRIES = 5
@@ -266,7 +268,7 @@ am_start_error = re.compile(r"Error: Activity class {[\w|.|/]*} does not exist")
 
 
 def adb_shell(device, command, timeout=None, check_exit_code=False, as_root=False):  # NOQA
-    # pylint: disable=too-many-branches
+    # pylint: disable=too-many-branches, too-many-locals, too-many-statements
     _check_env()
     if as_root:
         command = 'echo \'{}\' | su'.format(escape_single_quotes(command))
@@ -275,7 +277,15 @@ def adb_shell(device, command, timeout=None, check_exit_code=False, as_root=Fals
     logger.debug(full_command)
     if check_exit_code:
         actual_command = "adb {} shell '({}); echo; echo $?'".format(device_string, escape_single_quotes(command))
-        raw_output, error = check_output(actual_command, timeout, shell=True)
+        try:
+            raw_output, error = check_output(actual_command, timeout, shell=True)
+        except CalledProcessErrorWithStderr as e:
+            raw_output = e.output
+            error = e.error
+            exit_code = e.returncode
+            if exit_code == 1:
+                logger.debug("Exit code 1 could be either the return code of the command or mean ADB failed")
+
         if raw_output:
             if raw_output.endswith('\r\n'):
                 newline = '\r\n'
@@ -311,7 +321,14 @@ def adb_shell(device, command, timeout=None, check_exit_code=False, as_root=Fals
             else:
                 raise DeviceError('adb has returned early; did not get an exit code. Was kill-server invoked?')
     else:  # do not check exit code
-        output, _ = check_output(full_command, timeout, shell=True)
+        try:
+            output, _ = check_output(full_command, timeout, shell=True)
+        except CalledProcessErrorWithStderr as e:
+            output = e.output
+            error = e.error
+            exit_code = e.returncode
+            if e.returncode == 1:
+                logger.debug("Got Exit code 1, could be either the return code of the command or mean ADB failed")
     return output
 
 
diff --git a/wlauto/utils/misc.py b/wlauto/utils/misc.py
index 48efc96c..224bc072 100644
--- a/wlauto/utils/misc.py
+++ b/wlauto/utils/misc.py
@@ -27,12 +27,13 @@ import imp
 import string
 import threading
 import signal
-import subprocess
 import pkgutil
 import traceback
 import logging
 import random
 import hashlib
+import subprocess
+from subprocess import CalledProcessError
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 from operator import mul, itemgetter
 from StringIO import StringIO
@@ -81,6 +82,13 @@ class TimeoutError(Exception):
         return '\n'.join([self.message, 'OUTPUT:', self.output or ''])
 
 
+class CalledProcessErrorWithStderr(CalledProcessError):
+
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        self.error = kwargs.pop("error")
+        super(CalledProcessErrorWithStderr, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+
+
 def check_output(command, timeout=None, ignore=None, **kwargs):
     """This is a version of subprocess.check_output that adds a timeout parameter to kill
     the subprocess if it does not return within the specified time."""
@@ -120,7 +128,7 @@ def check_output(command, timeout=None, ignore=None, **kwargs):
         if retcode == -9:  # killed, assume due to timeout callback
             raise TimeoutError(command, output='\n'.join([output, error]))
         elif ignore != 'all' and retcode not in ignore:
-            raise subprocess.CalledProcessError(retcode, command, output='\n'.join([output, error]))
+            raise CalledProcessErrorWithStderr(retcode, command, output=output, error=error)
     return output, error