diff --git a/rally/cli/commands/task.py b/rally/cli/commands/task.py
index 03a859fff7..18b2618278 100644
--- a/rally/cli/commands/task.py
+++ b/rally/cli/commands/task.py
@@ -281,6 +281,8 @@ class TaskCommands(object):
         If both task_args and task_args_file are specified, they are going to
         be merged. task_args has a higher priority so it overrides
         values from task_args_file.
+        There are 3 kinds of return codes, 0: no error, 1: running error,
+        2: sla check failed.
         """
 
         input_task = self._load_and_validate_task(api, task_file,
@@ -310,7 +312,9 @@ class TaskCommands(object):
             print("Cannot start a task on unfinished deployment: %s" % e)
             return 1
 
-        return self._detailed(api, task_id=task_instance["uuid"])
+        if self._detailed(api, task_id=task_instance["uuid"]):
+            return 2
+        return 0
 
     @cliutils.args("--uuid", type=str, dest="task_id", help="UUID of task.")
     @envutils.with_default_task_id
diff --git a/tests/ci/rally_gate_functions.sh b/tests/ci/rally_gate_functions.sh
index 41ff600878..dbc240b86d 100644
--- a/tests/ci/rally_gate_functions.sh
+++ b/tests/ci/rally_gate_functions.sh
@@ -119,7 +119,13 @@ function run () {
 
     $PYTHON $RALLY_DIR/tests/ci/osresources.py --dump-list resources_at_start.txt
 
+    set +e
     rally --rally-debug task start --task $TASK $TASK_ARGS
+    retval=$?
+    if [[ $? -eq 1 ]]; then
+        exit $retval
+    fi
+    set -e
 
     mkdir -p rally-plot/extra
     $PYTHON $RALLY_DIR/tests/ci/render.py ci/index.html > rally-plot/extra/index.html
diff --git a/tests/unit/cli/commands/test_task.py b/tests/unit/cli/commands/test_task.py
index bfe82a6370..e7ca58ea3d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/cli/commands/test_task.py
+++ b/tests/unit/cli/commands/test_task.py
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ class TaskCommandsTestCase(test.TestCase):
 
         val = self.task.start(self.fake_api, task_path,
                               deployment_id, do_use=True)
-        self.assertEqual(1, val)
+        self.assertEqual(2, val)
         mock_version.version_string.assert_called_once_with()
         self.fake_api.task.create.assert_called_once_with(
             deployment=deployment_id, tags=None)