diff --git a/barretenberg/cpp/bootstrap.sh b/barretenberg/cpp/bootstrap.sh
index 262773bd7af6..d1b2336a9473 100755
--- a/barretenberg/cpp/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/barretenberg/cpp/bootstrap.sh
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ function build_nodejs_module {
 }
 
 function build_darwin {
+  set -eu
   local arch=${1:-$(arch)}
   if ! cache_download barretenberg-darwin-$hash.tar.gz; then
     # Download sdk.