diff --git a/demo/start.sh b/demo/start.sh
index bc4854091..fc5d08a63 100755
--- a/demo/start.sh
+++ b/demo/start.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "$0" )" && pwd )"
 
 CWD=$(pwd)
 
-cd "$DIR/.."
+cd "$DIR/.." || exit
 
 mkdir -p demo/etc
 
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ for port in 8080 8081 8082; do
 
     https_port=$((port + 400))
     mkdir -p demo/$port
-    pushd demo/$port
+    pushd demo/$port || exit
 
     #rm $DIR/etc/$port.config
     python3 -m synapse.app.homeserver \
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ for port in 8080 8081 8082; do
         --config-path "$DIR/etc/$port.config" \
         -D \
 
-    popd
+    popd || exit
 done
 
-cd "$CWD"
+cd "$CWD" || exit
diff --git a/scripts-dev/check_line_terminators.sh b/scripts-dev/check_line_terminators.sh
index c98395623..762f848ca 100755
--- a/scripts-dev/check_line_terminators.sh
+++ b/scripts-dev/check_line_terminators.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 # terminators are found, 0 otherwise.
 
 # cd to the root of the repository
-cd `dirname $0`/..
+cd `dirname $0`/.. || exit
 
 # Find and print files with non-unix line terminators
 if find . -path './.git/*' -prune -o -type f -print0 | xargs -0 grep -I -l $'\r$'; then
diff --git a/scripts-dev/config-lint.sh b/scripts-dev/config-lint.sh
index 8c6323e59..6b160c8ad 100755
--- a/scripts-dev/config-lint.sh
+++ b/scripts-dev/config-lint.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # Exits with 0 if there are no problems, or another code otherwise.
 
 # cd to the root of the repository
-cd `dirname $0`/..
+cd `dirname $0`/.. || exit
 
 # Restore backup of sample config upon script exit
 trap "mv docs/sample_config.yaml.bak docs/sample_config.yaml" EXIT