diff --git a/django/core/management/commands/test.py b/django/core/management/commands/test.py
index 4fd6ba0c8d..46204a7508 100644
--- a/django/core/management/commands/test.py
+++ b/django/core/management/commands/test.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
     def handle(self, *test_labels, **options):
         from django.conf import settings
         from django.test.utils import get_runner
-        
+
         verbosity = int(options.get('verbosity', 1))
         interactive = options.get('interactive', True)
         failfast = options.get('failfast', False)
@@ -25,10 +25,10 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
 
         # Some custom test runners won't accept the failfast flag, so let's make sure they accept it before passing it to them
         if 'failfast' in test_runner.func_code.co_varnames:
-            failures = test_runner(test_labels, verbosity=verbosity, interactive=interactive, 
+            failures = test_runner(test_labels, verbosity=verbosity, interactive=interactive,
                                    failfast=failfast)
         else:
             failures = test_runner(test_labels, verbosity=verbosity, interactive=interactive)
 
         if failures:
-            sys.exit(failures)
+            sys.exit(bool(failures))
diff --git a/docs/releases/1.2.txt b/docs/releases/1.2.txt
index 252682a3cf..a549bd0cce 100644
--- a/docs/releases/1.2.txt
+++ b/docs/releases/1.2.txt
@@ -232,6 +232,16 @@ party packages, or that you wrote yourself, you should ensure that the
 information, see
 :ref:`template tag thread safety considerations<template_tag_thread_safety>`.
 
+Test runner exit status code
+----------------------------
+
+The exit status code of the test runners (``tests/runtests.py`` and ``python
+manage.py test``) no longer represents the number of failed tests, since a
+failure of 256 or more tests resulted in a wrong exit status code.  The exit
+status code for the test runner is now 0 for success (no failing tests) and 1
+for any number of test failures.  If needed, the number of test failures can be
+found at the end of the test runner's output.
+
 .. _deprecated-features-1.2:
 
 Features deprecated in 1.2
@@ -471,12 +481,12 @@ Models can now use a 64 bit :class:`~django.db.models.BigIntegerField` type.
 Fast Failure for Tests
 ----------------------
 
-The :djadmin:`test` subcommand of ``django-admin.py``, and the ``runtests.py`` 
+The :djadmin:`test` subcommand of ``django-admin.py``, and the ``runtests.py``
 script used to run Django's own test suite, support a new ``--failfast`` option.
-When specified, this option causes the test runner to exit after encountering 
-a failure instead of continuing with the test run.  In addition, the handling 
-of ``Ctrl-C`` during a test run has been improved to trigger a graceful exit 
-from the test run that reports details of the tests run before the interruption.        
+When specified, this option causes the test runner to exit after encountering
+a failure instead of continuing with the test run.  In addition, the handling
+of ``Ctrl-C`` during a test run has been improved to trigger a graceful exit
+from the test run that reports details of the tests run before the interruption.
 
 Improved localization
 ---------------------
diff --git a/tests/runtests.py b/tests/runtests.py
index 1cd95b9fef..f2ea5f1271 100755
--- a/tests/runtests.py
+++ b/tests/runtests.py
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ def django_tests(verbosity, interactive, failfast, test_labels):
     failures = test_runner(test_labels, verbosity=verbosity, interactive=interactive, failfast=failfast,
                            extra_tests=extra_tests)
     if failures:
-        sys.exit(failures)
+        sys.exit(bool(failures))
 
     # Restore the old settings.
     settings.INSTALLED_APPS = old_installed_apps