diff --git a/.agents/skills/lib_py/delegation/job_subscriber.py b/.agents/skills/lib_py/delegation/job_subscriber.py
index a718fc1..6c6b22b 100755
--- a/.agents/skills/lib_py/delegation/job_subscriber.py
+++ b/.agents/skills/lib_py/delegation/job_subscriber.py
@@ -588,7 +588,9 @@ def main(argv=None) -> int:
     args = parser.parse_args(argv)
 
     if not mqtt_common.load_env_or_report():
-        return 1
+        # rc 1, as the EnvFileError traceback exited before. The wrapper reads
+        # the same file first and exits 1 itself, so it never sees this one.
+        return RC_ERROR
     mqtt_common.setup_logging(logging.DEBUG if args.verbose else logging.WARNING)
 
     try: