diff --git a/src/bin.ts b/src/bin.ts
index c2dbb7b..2b4c537 100644
--- a/src/bin.ts
+++ b/src/bin.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,13 @@
 import { CLI } from './cli.js'
 
-const exitCode = await CLI.run(process.argv.slice(2))
-process.exit(exitCode)
+// Top-level catch: without it, any error escaping CLI.run rejects the
+// top-level await and Node kills the process with a raw stack trace —
+// including errors thrown while a finally block runs during shutdown.
+try {
+  const exitCode = await CLI.run(process.argv.slice(2))
+  process.exit(exitCode)
+} catch (e) {
+  const message = e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e)
+  console.error(`[specbandit] Fatal: ${message}`)
+  process.exit(1)
+}
diff --git a/src/redisQueue.ts b/src/redisQueue.ts
index 9cd548b..aaeb5b4 100644
--- a/src/redisQueue.ts
+++ b/src/redisQueue.ts
@@ -117,8 +117,19 @@ export class RedisQueue {
     })
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Close the connection without ever throwing. QUIT is a regular command,
+   * so during an outage it hits commandTimeout and rejects — and close()
+   * runs in exit paths (finally blocks), where a throw masks the real error
+   * or crashes an otherwise-green run. Fall back to a hard disconnect,
+   * which drops the socket and pending commands without a round-trip.
+   */
   async close(): Promise<void> {
-    await this.redis.quit()
+    try {
+      await this.redis.quit()
+    } catch {
+      this.redis.disconnect()
+    }
   }
 
   private async withRetries<T>(operation: string, fn: () => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
@@ -126,7 +137,10 @@ export class RedisQueue {
       try {
         return await fn()
       } catch (error) {
-        if (attempt === this.maxAttempts) throw error
+        if (attempt === this.maxAttempts) {
+          const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)
+          throw new Error(`Redis ${operation} failed after ${this.maxAttempts} attempts: ${message}`)
+        }
         const delay = Math.min(BASE_DELAY_MS * Math.pow(2, attempt - 1), MAX_BACKOFF_MS)
         console.warn(`[specbandit] Redis ${operation} failed (attempt ${attempt}/${this.maxAttempts}), retrying in ${delay}ms: ${error}`)
         await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delay))
diff --git a/test/redisQueue.test.ts b/test/redisQueue.test.ts
index 390b9b9..f9e6016 100644
--- a/test/redisQueue.test.ts
+++ b/test/redisQueue.test.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ describe('RedisQueue', () => {
     set: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>
     exists: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>
     quit: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>
+    disconnect: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>
   }
 
   beforeEach(() => {
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ describe('RedisQueue', () => {
       set: vi.fn(),
       exists: vi.fn(),
       quit: vi.fn(),
+      disconnect: vi.fn(),
     }
 
     // Replace the redis instance with our mock
@@ -224,7 +226,7 @@ describe('RedisQueue', () => {
 
       const result = await promise
       expect(result).toBeInstanceOf(Error)
-      expect((result as Error).message).toBe('persistent failure')
+      expect((result as Error).message).toBe('Redis length failed after 5 attempts: persistent failure')
       expect(mockRedis.llen).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(5)
       expect(warnSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(4)
 
@@ -305,6 +307,14 @@ describe('RedisQueue', () => {
 
       await queue.close()
       expect(mockRedis.quit).toHaveBeenCalled()
+      expect(mockRedis.disconnect).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+    })
+
+    it('falls back to disconnect and does not throw when QUIT fails', async () => {
+      mockRedis.quit.mockRejectedValue(new Error('Command timed out'))
+
+      await expect(queue.close()).resolves.toBeUndefined()
+      expect(mockRedis.disconnect).toHaveBeenCalled()
     })
   })
 })