diff --git a/bin/tests/system/conf.sh.common b/bin/tests/system/conf.sh.common
index 5a03d18e88..1e644fa639 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/conf.sh.common
+++ b/bin/tests/system/conf.sh.common
@@ -202,6 +202,24 @@ DISABLED_BITS=384
 # Useful functions in test scripts
 #
 
+# assert_int_equal: compare two integer variables, $1 and $2
+#
+# If $1 and $2 are equal, return 0; if $1 and $2 are not equal, report
+# the error using the description of the tested variable provided in $3
+# and return 1.
+assert_int_equal() {
+	expected="$1"
+	found="$2"
+	description="$3"
+
+	if [ "${expected}" -ne "${found}" ]; then
+		echo_i "incorrect ${description}: expected ${expected}, got ${found}"
+		return 1
+	fi
+
+	return 0
+}
+
 # keyfile_to_keys_section: helper function for keyfile_to_*_keys() which
 # converts keyfile data into a configuration section using the supplied
 # parameters
diff --git a/bin/tests/system/tcp/tests.sh b/bin/tests/system/tcp/tests.sh
index c81bca6e39..c56efb4d0a 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/tcp/tests.sh
+++ b/bin/tests/system/tcp/tests.sh
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ n=$((n + 1))
 echo_i "TCP high-water: check initial statistics ($n)"
 ret=0
 refresh_tcp_stats
-assert_int_equal "${TCP_CUR}" 1 "current TCP clients count"
+assert_int_equal "${TCP_CUR}" 1 "current TCP clients count" || ret=1
 if [ $ret != 0 ]; then echo_i "failed"; fi
 status=`expr $status + $ret`
 
@@ -113,8 +113,8 @@ OLD_TCP_CUR="${TCP_CUR}"
 TCP_ADDED=9
 open_connections "${TCP_ADDED}"
 refresh_tcp_stats
-assert_int_equal "${TCP_CUR}" $((OLD_TCP_CUR + TCP_ADDED)) "current TCP clients count"
-assert_int_equal "${TCP_HIGH}" $((OLD_TCP_CUR + TCP_ADDED)) "TCP high-water value"
+assert_int_equal "${TCP_CUR}" $((OLD_TCP_CUR + TCP_ADDED)) "current TCP clients count" || ret=1
+assert_int_equal "${TCP_HIGH}" $((OLD_TCP_CUR + TCP_ADDED)) "TCP high-water value" || ret=1
 if [ $ret != 0 ]; then echo_i "failed"; fi
 status=`expr $status + $ret`
 
@@ -128,8 +128,8 @@ OLD_TCP_HIGH="${TCP_HIGH}"
 TCP_REMOVED=5
 close_connections "${TCP_REMOVED}"
 refresh_tcp_stats
-assert_int_equal "${TCP_CUR}" $((OLD_TCP_CUR - TCP_REMOVED)) "current TCP clients count"
-assert_int_equal "${TCP_HIGH}" "${OLD_TCP_HIGH}" "TCP high-water value"
+assert_int_equal "${TCP_CUR}" $((OLD_TCP_CUR - TCP_REMOVED)) "current TCP clients count" || ret=1
+assert_int_equal "${TCP_HIGH}" "${OLD_TCP_HIGH}" "TCP high-water value" || ret=1
 if [ $ret != 0 ]; then echo_i "failed"; fi
 status=`expr $status + $ret`
 
@@ -140,8 +140,8 @@ echo_i "TCP high-water: ensure tcp-clients is an upper bound ($n)"
 ret=0
 open_connections $((TCP_LIMIT + 1))
 refresh_tcp_stats
-assert_int_equal "${TCP_CUR}" "${TCP_LIMIT}" "current TCP clients count"
-assert_int_equal "${TCP_HIGH}" "${TCP_LIMIT}" "TCP high-water value"
+assert_int_equal "${TCP_CUR}" "${TCP_LIMIT}" "current TCP clients count" || ret=1
+assert_int_equal "${TCP_HIGH}" "${TCP_LIMIT}" "TCP high-water value" || ret=1
 if [ $ret != 0 ]; then echo_i "failed"; fi
 status=`expr $status + $ret`