diff --git a/test/cmd/basicresources.sh b/test/cmd/basicresources.sh
index 52f611937045..22e12e35a461 100755
--- a/test/cmd/basicresources.sh
+++ b/test/cmd/basicresources.sh
@@ -325,6 +325,10 @@ os::cmd::expect_success          "echo '${group_json}' | oc create -f -"
 os::cmd::expect_success          "oc patch group patch-group -p 'users: [\"myuser\"]' --loglevel=8"
 os::cmd::expect_success_and_text 'oc get group patch-group -o yaml' 'myuser'
 os::cmd::expect_success          "oc patch group patch-group -p 'users: []' --loglevel=8"
+# applying the same patch twice results in exit code 0, and "not patched" text
+os::cmd::expect_success_and_text "oc patch group patch-group -p 'users: []'" "not patched"
+# applying an invalid patch results in exit code 1 and an error
+os::cmd::expect_failure_and_text "oc patch group patch-group -p 'users: \"\"'" "cannot restore slice from string"
 os::cmd::expect_success_and_text 'oc get group patch-group -o yaml' 'users: \[\]'
 echo "patch: ok"
 os::test::junit::declare_suite_end
diff --git a/vendor/k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl/cmd/patch.go b/vendor/k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl/cmd/patch.go
index 14fa2c6a5103..551af2de4c41 100644
--- a/vendor/k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl/cmd/patch.go
+++ b/vendor/k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl/cmd/patch.go
@@ -245,14 +245,7 @@ func (o *PatchOptions) RunPatch() error {
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			printer.PrintObj(info.Object, o.Out)
-
-			// if object was not successfully patched, exit with error code 1
-			if !didPatch {
-				return cmdutil.ErrExit
-			}
-
-			return nil
+			return printer.PrintObj(info.Object, o.Out)
 		}
 
 		count++