diff --git a/README.adoc b/README.adoc
index 828d1f0..0c7a5be 100644
--- a/README.adoc
+++ b/README.adoc
@@ -9286,7 +9286,7 @@ And in QEMU:
 Or for a faster development loop:
 
 ....
-./run --debug-vm --debug-vm-args '-ex "break edu_mmio_read" -ex "run"'
+./run --debug-vm-args '-ex "break edu_mmio_read" -ex "run"'
 ....
 
 When in <<qemu-text-mode>>, using `--debug-vm` makes Ctrl-C not get passed to the QEMU guest anymore: it is instead captured by GDB itself, so allow breaking. So e.g. you won't be able to easily quit from a guest program like:
diff --git a/path_properties.py b/path_properties.py
index d87d593..3b626a9 100644
--- a/path_properties.py
+++ b/path_properties.py
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ class PathProperties:
         'cc_flags_after': [],
         'cc_pedantic': True,
         'cxx_std': default_cxx_std,
+        # Expected program exit status. When signals are raised, this refers
+        # to the native exit status. as reported by Bash #?.
         'exit_status': 0,
         'extra_objs_baremetal_bootloader': False,
         # We should get rid of this if we ever properly implement dependency graphs.
@@ -111,7 +113,6 @@ class PathProperties:
             not self['interactive'] and
             not self['more_than_1s'] and
             not self['no_executable'] and
-            not self['receives_signal'] and
             not self['requires_argument'] and
             not self['requires_kernel_modules'] and
             not self['requires_sudo'] and
@@ -334,7 +335,10 @@ path_properties_tuples = (
                                     },
                                     {
                                         'freestanding': freestanding_properties,
-                                        'ring0.c': {'receives_signal': True}
+                                        'ring0.c': {
+                                            'exit_status': 139,
+                                            'receives_signal': True
+                                        }
                                     }
                                 ),
                                 'freestanding': freestanding_properties,
@@ -345,7 +349,10 @@ path_properties_tuples = (
                 'c': (
                     {},
                     {
-                        'assert_fail.c': {'receives_signal': True},
+                        'assert_fail.c': {
+                            'exit_status': 134,
+                            'receives_signal': True,
+                        },
                         'false.c': {'exit_status': 1},
                         'getchar.c': {'interactive': True},
                         'infinite_loop.c': {'more_than_1s': True},
diff --git a/test-user-mode b/test-user-mode
index c2bb19c..645cfb7 100755
--- a/test-user-mode
+++ b/test-user-mode
@@ -59,12 +59,15 @@ If given, run only the given tests. Otherwise, run all tests.
                                         'userland': os.path.relpath(os.path.join(path_abs, in_filename), os.getcwd()),
                                     })
                                     cur_run_args.update(my_path_properties['test_run_args'])
-                                    error = thread_pool.submit({
+                                    run_test_args = {
                                         'expected_exit_status': my_path_properties['exit_status'],
                                         'run_args': cur_run_args,
                                         'run_obj':  self.import_path_main('run'),
                                         'test_id': path_relative_root,
-                                    })
+                                    }
+                                    if my_path_properties['receives_signal']:
+                                        run_test_args['expected_exit_status'] = 128 - my_path_properties['exit_status']
+                                    error = thread_pool.submit(run_test_args)
                                     if error is not None:
                                         if self.env['quit_on_fail']:
                                             raise common.ExitLoop()