diff --git a/borg/archiver.py b/borg/archiver.py
index ff475f378..50a4d7017 100644
--- a/borg/archiver.py
+++ b/borg/archiver.py
@@ -571,6 +571,8 @@ Type "Yes I am sure" if you understand this and want to continue.\n""")
         common_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False, prog=prog)
         common_parser.add_argument('-v', '--verbose', dest='verbose', action='store_true', default=False,
                                    help='verbose output')
+        common_parser.add_argument('--show-rc', dest='show_rc', action='store_true', default=False,
+                                   help='show/log the return code (rc)')
         common_parser.add_argument('--no-files-cache', dest='cache_files', action='store_false',
                                    help='do not load/update the file metadata cache used to detect unchanged files')
         common_parser.add_argument('--umask', dest='umask', type=lambda s: int(s, 8), default=RemoteRepository.umask, metavar='M',
@@ -985,7 +987,21 @@ Type "Yes I am sure" if you understand this and want to continue.\n""")
                                help='additional help on TOPIC')
         return parser
 
-    def run(self, args=None):
+    def parse_args(self, args=None):
+        # We can't use argparse for "serve" since we don't want it to show up in "Available commands"
+        if args:
+            args = self.preprocess_args(args)
+        parser = self.build_parser(args)
+        args = parser.parse_args(args or ['-h'])
+        update_excludes(args)
+        return args
+
+    def run(self, args):
+        os.umask(args.umask)  # early, before opening files
+        self.verbose = args.verbose
+        RemoteRepository.remote_path = args.remote_path
+        RemoteRepository.umask = args.umask
+        setup_logging()
         check_extension_modules()
         keys_dir = get_keys_dir()
         if not os.path.exists(keys_dir):
@@ -1002,19 +1018,6 @@ Type "Yes I am sure" if you understand this and want to continue.\n""")
                     # For information about cache directory tags, see:
                     #       http://www.brynosaurus.com/cachedir/
                     """).lstrip())
-
-        # We can't use argparse for "serve" since we don't want it to show up in "Available commands"
-        if args:
-            args = self.preprocess_args(args)
-        parser = self.build_parser(args)
-
-        args = parser.parse_args(args or ['-h'])
-        self.verbose = args.verbose
-        setup_logging()
-        os.umask(args.umask)
-        RemoteRepository.remote_path = args.remote_path
-        RemoteRepository.umask = args.umask
-        update_excludes(args)
         if is_slow_msgpack():
             logger.warning("Using a pure-python msgpack! This will result in lower performance.")
         return args.func(args)
@@ -1060,9 +1063,10 @@ def main():  # pragma: no cover
     sys.stderr = io.TextIOWrapper(sys.stderr.buffer, sys.stderr.encoding, 'replace', line_buffering=True)
     setup_signal_handlers()
     archiver = Archiver()
+    msg = None
+    args = archiver.parse_args(sys.argv[1:])
     try:
-        msg = None
-        exit_code = archiver.run(sys.argv[1:])
+        exit_code = archiver.run(args)
     except Error as e:
         msg = e.get_message()
         if e.traceback:
@@ -1079,16 +1083,17 @@ def main():  # pragma: no cover
         exit_code = EXIT_ERROR
     if msg:
         logger.error(msg)
-    exit_msg = 'terminating with %s status, rc %d'
-    if exit_code == EXIT_SUCCESS:
-        logger.info(exit_msg % ('success', exit_code))
-    elif exit_code == EXIT_WARNING:
-        logger.warning(exit_msg % ('warning', exit_code))
-    elif exit_code == EXIT_ERROR:
-        logger.error(exit_msg % ('error', exit_code))
-    else:
-        # if you see 666 in output, it usually means exit_code was None
-        logger.error(exit_msg % ('abnormal', exit_code or 666))
+    if args.show_rc:
+        exit_msg = 'terminating with %s status, rc %d'
+        if exit_code == EXIT_SUCCESS:
+            logger.info(exit_msg % ('success', exit_code))
+        elif exit_code == EXIT_WARNING:
+            logger.warning(exit_msg % ('warning', exit_code))
+        elif exit_code == EXIT_ERROR:
+            logger.error(exit_msg % ('error', exit_code))
+        else:
+            # if you see 666 in output, it usually means exit_code was None
+            logger.error(exit_msg % ('abnormal', exit_code or 666))
     sys.exit(exit_code)
 
 
diff --git a/borg/testsuite/archiver.py b/borg/testsuite/archiver.py
index 78497e42a..8b30e4feb 100644
--- a/borg/testsuite/archiver.py
+++ b/borg/testsuite/archiver.py
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@ def exec_cmd(*args, archiver=None, fork=False, exe=None, **kw):
             sys.stdout = sys.stderr = output = StringIO()
             if archiver is None:
                 archiver = Archiver()
-            ret = archiver.run(list(args))
+            args = archiver.parse_args(list(args))
+            ret = archiver.run(args)
             return ret, output.getvalue()
         finally:
             sys.stdin, sys.stdout, sys.stderr = stdin, stdout, stderr