diff --git a/scripts/zulip-puppet-apply b/scripts/zulip-puppet-apply
index 3e766f6a45..7321ebcd73 100755
--- a/scripts/zulip-puppet-apply
+++ b/scripts/zulip-puppet-apply
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 
+from __future__ import print_function
 import sys
 import subprocess
 import six.moves.configparser
@@ -26,18 +27,20 @@ for pclass in re.split(r'\s*,\s*', config.get('machine', 'puppet_classes')):
 puppet_cmd = ["puppet", "apply", "--modulepath=/root/zulip/puppet", "-e", puppet_config]
 puppet_cmd += extra_args
 
-if force:
-    subprocess.check_call(puppet_cmd)
-    sys.exit(0)
+if not force:
+    subprocess.check_call(puppet_cmd + ['--noop', '--show_diff'])
 
-subprocess.check_call(puppet_cmd + ['--noop', '--show_diff'])
+    do_apply = None
+    while do_apply != 'y':
+        sys.stdout.write("Apply changes? [y/N] ")
+        do_apply = sys.stdin.readline().strip().lower()
+        if do_apply == '' or do_apply == 'n':
+            sys.exit(0)
 
-do_apply = None
-while not (do_apply == 'y' or do_apply == 'n'):
-    sys.stdout.write("Apply changes? [y/N] ")
-    do_apply = sys.stdin.readline().strip().lower()
-    if do_apply == '':
-        do_apply = 'n'
-
-if do_apply == 'y':
-    subprocess.check_call(puppet_cmd)
+ret = subprocess.call(puppet_cmd + ['--detailed-exitcodes'])
+# ret = 0 => no changes, no errors
+# ret = 2 => changes, no errors
+# ret = 4 => no changes, yes errors
+# ret = 6 => changes, yes errors
+if ret != 0 and ret != 2:
+    sys.exit(1)