diff --git a/packaging/os/pkgutil.py b/packaging/os/pkgutil.py
index 78a7db72bf5..0204bbae987 100644
--- a/packaging/os/pkgutil.py
+++ b/packaging/os/pkgutil.py
@@ -163,9 +163,13 @@ def main():
             out = out[:75]
 
     if rc is None:
+        # pkgutil was not executed because the package was already present/absent
         result['changed'] = False
-    else:
+    elif rc == 0
         result['changed'] = True
+    else
+        result['changed'] = False
+        result['failed'] = True
 
     if out:
         result['stdout'] = out