diff --git a/src/cli/args.zig b/src/cli/args.zig
index 99e6f7aa1..6444400a7 100644
--- a/src/cli/args.zig
+++ b/src/cli/args.zig
@@ -230,6 +230,12 @@ fn parseIntoField(
                     0,
                 ) catch return error.InvalidValue,
 
+                u64 => std.fmt.parseInt(
+                    u64,
+                    value orelse return error.ValueRequired,
+                    0,
+                ) catch return error.InvalidValue,
+
                 f64 => std.fmt.parseFloat(
                     f64,
                     value orelse return error.ValueRequired,
diff --git a/src/config/Config.zig b/src/config/Config.zig
index ccdd51429..809eb427d 100644
--- a/src/config/Config.zig
+++ b/src/config/Config.zig
@@ -387,6 +387,15 @@ palette: Palette = .{},
 /// flag. For example: `ghostty -e fish --with --custom --args`.
 command: ?[]const u8 = null,
 
+/// The number of milliseconds of runtime below which we consider a process
+/// exit to be abnormal. This is used to show an error message when the
+/// process exits too quickly.
+///
+/// On Linux, this must be paired with a non-zero exit code. On macOS,
+/// we allow any exit code because of the way shell processes are launched
+/// via the login command.
+@"abnormal-command-exit-runtime": u32 = 250,
+
 /// Match a regular expression against the terminal text and associate
 /// clicking it with an action. This can be used to match URLs, file paths,
 /// etc. Actions can be opening using the system opener (i.e. "open" or
diff --git a/src/termio/Exec.zig b/src/termio/Exec.zig
index ff7841647..16c25eb6b 100644
--- a/src/termio/Exec.zig
+++ b/src/termio/Exec.zig
@@ -38,17 +38,17 @@ const c = @cImport({
 /// correct granularity of events.
 const disable_kitty_keyboard_protocol = apprt.runtime == apprt.glfw;
 
-/// The number of milliseconds below which we consider a process
-/// exit to be abnormal. This is used to show an error message
-/// when the process exits too quickly.
-const abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms = 250;
-
 /// Allocator
 alloc: Allocator,
 
 /// This is the pty fd created for the subcommand.
 subprocess: Subprocess,
 
+/// The number of milliseconds below which we consider a process
+/// exit to be abnormal. This is used to show an error message
+/// when the process exits too quickly.
+abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms: u32,
+
 /// The terminal emulator internal state. This is the abstract "terminal"
 /// that manages input, grid updating, etc. and is renderer-agnostic. It
 /// just stores internal state about a grid.
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ pub const DerivedConfig = struct {
     osc_color_report_format: configpkg.Config.OSCColorReportFormat,
     term: []const u8,
     grapheme_width_method: configpkg.Config.GraphemeWidthMethod,
+    abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms: u32,
 
     pub fn init(
         alloc_gpa: Allocator,
@@ -129,6 +130,7 @@ pub const DerivedConfig = struct {
             .osc_color_report_format = config.@"osc-color-report-format",
             .term = config.term,
             .grapheme_width_method = config.@"grapheme-width-method",
+            .abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms = config.@"abnormal-command-exit-runtime",
         };
     }
 
@@ -207,6 +209,7 @@ pub fn init(alloc: Allocator, opts: termio.Options) !Exec {
         .background_color = config.background.toTerminalRGB(),
         .osc_color_report_format = config.osc_color_report_format,
         .data = null,
+        .abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms = opts.config.abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms,
     };
 }
 
@@ -304,6 +307,7 @@ pub fn threadEnter(self: *Exec, thread: *termio.Thread) !ThreadData {
                 },
             },
         },
+        .abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms = self.abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms,
     };
     errdefer ev_data_ptr.deinit(self.alloc);
 
@@ -546,14 +550,14 @@ pub fn jumpToPrompt(self: *Exec, delta: isize) !void {
 
 /// Called when the child process exited abnormally but before
 /// the surface is notified.
-pub fn childExitedAbnormally(self: *Exec) !void {
+pub fn childExitedAbnormally(self: *Exec, exit_code: u32, runtime_ms: u64) !void {
+    var arena = ArenaAllocator.init(self.alloc);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+    const alloc = arena.allocator();
+
     // Build up our command for the error message
-    const command = try std.mem.join(
-        self.alloc,
-        " ",
-        self.subprocess.args,
-    );
-    defer self.alloc.free(command);
+    const command = try std.mem.join(alloc, " ", self.subprocess.args);
+    const runtime_str = try std.fmt.allocPrint(alloc, "{d} ms", .{runtime_ms});
 
     // Modify the terminal to show our error message. This
     // requires grabbing the renderer state lock.
@@ -571,8 +575,7 @@ pub fn childExitedAbnormally(self: *Exec) !void {
     // a little bit and write a horizontal rule before writing
     // our message. This lets the use see the error message the
     // command may have output.
-    const viewport_str = try t.plainString(self.alloc);
-    defer self.alloc.free(viewport_str);
+    const viewport_str = try t.plainString(alloc);
     if (viewport_str.len > 0) {
         try t.linefeed();
         for (0..t.cols) |_| try t.print(0x2501);
@@ -586,11 +589,33 @@ pub fn childExitedAbnormally(self: *Exec) !void {
     try t.setAttribute(.{ .bold = {} });
     try t.printString("Ghostty failed to launch the requested command:");
     try t.setAttribute(.{ .unset = {} });
-    try t.setAttribute(.{ .faint = {} });
+
     t.carriageReturn();
     try t.linefeed();
+    try t.linefeed();
     try t.printString(command);
     try t.setAttribute(.{ .unset = {} });
+
+    t.carriageReturn();
+    try t.linefeed();
+    try t.linefeed();
+    try t.printString("Runtime: ");
+    try t.setAttribute(.{ .@"8_fg" = .red });
+    try t.printString(runtime_str);
+    try t.setAttribute(.{ .unset = {} });
+
+    // We don't print this on macOS because the exit code is always 0
+    // due to the way we launch the process.
+    if (comptime !builtin.target.isDarwin()) {
+        const exit_code_str = try std.fmt.allocPrint(alloc, "{d}", .{exit_code});
+        t.carriageReturn();
+        try t.linefeed();
+        try t.printString("Exit Code: ");
+        try t.setAttribute(.{ .@"8_fg" = .red });
+        try t.printString(exit_code_str);
+        try t.setAttribute(.{ .unset = {} });
+    }
+
     t.carriageReturn();
     try t.linefeed();
     try t.linefeed();
@@ -745,6 +770,11 @@ const EventData = struct {
     /// this to determine if we need to default the window title.
     seen_title: bool = false,
 
+    /// The number of milliseconds below which we consider a process
+    /// exit to be abnormal. This is used to show an error message
+    /// when the process exits too quickly.
+    abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms: u32,
+
     pub fn deinit(self: *EventData, alloc: Allocator) void {
         // Clear our write pools. We know we aren't ever going to do
         // any more IO since we stop our data stream below so we can just
@@ -777,7 +807,7 @@ fn processExit(
     _: *xev.Completion,
     r: xev.Process.WaitError!u32,
 ) xev.CallbackAction {
-    const code = r catch unreachable;
+    const exit_code = r catch unreachable;
 
     const ev = ev_.?;
     ev.process_exited = true;
@@ -791,7 +821,7 @@ fn processExit(
     };
     log.debug(
         "child process exited status={} runtime={}ms",
-        .{ code, runtime_ms orelse 0 },
+        .{ exit_code, runtime_ms orelse 0 },
     );
 
     // If our runtime was below some threshold then we assume that this
@@ -802,7 +832,7 @@ fn processExit(
         if (comptime !builtin.target.isDarwin()) {
             // If our exit code is zero, then the command was successful
             // and we don't ever consider it abnormal.
-            if (code == 0) break :runtime;
+            if (exit_code == 0) break :runtime;
         }
 
         // Our runtime always has to be under the threshold to be
@@ -810,14 +840,14 @@ fn processExit(
         // manually do something like `exit 1` in their shell to
         // force the exit code to be non-zero. We only want to detect
         // abnormal exits that happen so quickly the user can't react.
-        if (runtime > abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms) break :runtime;
+        if (runtime > ev.abnormal_runtime_threshold_ms) break :runtime;
         log.warn("abnormal process exit detected, showing error message", .{});
 
         // Notify our main writer thread which has access to more
         // information so it can show a better error message.
         _ = ev.writer_mailbox.push(.{
             .child_exited_abnormally = .{
-                .code = code,
+                .exit_code = exit_code,
                 .runtime_ms = runtime,
             },
         }, .{ .forever = {} });
diff --git a/src/termio/Thread.zig b/src/termio/Thread.zig
index 516102f3f..61b2e3fba 100644
--- a/src/termio/Thread.zig
+++ b/src/termio/Thread.zig
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ fn drainMailbox(self: *Thread) !void {
             .jump_to_prompt => |v| try self.impl.jumpToPrompt(v),
             .start_synchronized_output => self.startSynchronizedOutput(),
             .linefeed_mode => |v| self.flags.linefeed_mode = v,
-            .child_exited_abnormally => try self.impl.childExitedAbnormally(),
+            .child_exited_abnormally => |v| try self.impl.childExitedAbnormally(v.exit_code, v.runtime_ms),
             .write_small => |v| try self.impl.queueWrite(v.data[0..v.len], self.flags.linefeed_mode),
             .write_stable => |v| try self.impl.queueWrite(v, self.flags.linefeed_mode),
             .write_alloc => |v| {
diff --git a/src/termio/message.zig b/src/termio/message.zig
index e6c8fc76f..ce6db8238 100644
--- a/src/termio/message.zig
+++ b/src/termio/message.zig
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ pub const Message = union(enum) {
     /// close because termio can use this to update the terminal
     /// with an error message.
     child_exited_abnormally: struct {
-        code: u32,
+        exit_code: u32,
         runtime_ms: u64,
     },