diff --git a/states/zabbix/scripts/apt.py b/states/zabbix/scripts/apt.py
index 60bd634..874b39e 100644
--- a/states/zabbix/scripts/apt.py
+++ b/states/zabbix/scripts/apt.py
@@ -56,8 +56,13 @@ def isSecurityUpgrade(pkg, depcache):
     return False
 
 def main():
-    pkgs = get_updates()
-    sys.exit(str(len(pkgs)))
+    ret = -1
+    try:
+        pkgs = get_updates()
+        ret = len(pkgs)
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(f"{e}", file=sys.stderr)
+    print(ret)
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     main()