diff --git a/documentation.py b/documentation.py
index 6bccad1..7d5daa5 100644
--- a/documentation.py
+++ b/documentation.py
@@ -159,7 +159,8 @@ class Docs:
             logging.info(pdf_cmd)
             p = subprocess.run(pdf_cmd, shell=True)
             if p.returncode != 0:
-                logging.error("pdf command failed")
+                logging.error("pdf generation failed")
+                raise RuntimeError(f"pdf generation failed with code {p.returncode}")
 
     def build_hugo_content(self, hugo_root: str) -> None:
         hugo_images = os.path.join(hugo_root, "images")
diff --git a/project.py b/project.py
index 0b9ece1..fc5ff2d 100644
--- a/project.py
+++ b/project.py
@@ -640,7 +640,8 @@ class Project:
         logging.info(pdf_cmd)
         p = subprocess.run(pdf_cmd, shell=True)
         if p.returncode != 0:
-            logging.error("pdf command failed")
+            logging.error("pdf generation failed")
+            raise RuntimeError(f"pdf generation failed with code {p.returncode}")
 
     # Read and return top-level GDS data from the final GDS file, using gdstk:
     def get_final_gds_top_cells(self):