diff --git a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistCoffeeLintLinter.php b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistCoffeeLintLinter.php
index 3301356a..d744146a 100644
--- a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistCoffeeLintLinter.php
+++ b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistCoffeeLintLinter.php
@@ -120,10 +120,6 @@ final class ArcanistCoffeeLintLinter extends ArcanistExternalLinter {
       }
     }
 
-    if ($err && !$messages) {
-      return false;
-    }
-
     return $messages;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistCpplintLinter.php b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistCpplintLinter.php
index f4a9123c..0680d474 100644
--- a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistCpplintLinter.php
+++ b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistCpplintLinter.php
@@ -56,10 +56,6 @@ final class ArcanistCpplintLinter extends ArcanistExternalLinter {
       $messages[] = $message;
     }
 
-    if ($err && !$messages) {
-      return false;
-    }
-
     return $messages;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistExternalLinter.php b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistExternalLinter.php
index 83586081..c10cbfdc 100644
--- a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistExternalLinter.php
+++ b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistExternalLinter.php
@@ -354,6 +354,13 @@ abstract class ArcanistExternalLinter extends ArcanistFutureLinter {
 
     $messages = $this->parseLinterOutput($path, $err, $stdout, $stderr);
 
+    if ($err && $this->shouldExpectCommandErrors() && !$messages) {
+      // We assume that if the future exits with a non-zero status and we
+      // failed to parse any linter messages, then something must've gone wrong
+      // during parsing.
+      $messages = false;
+    }
+
     if ($messages === false) {
       if ($err) {
         $future->resolvex();
diff --git a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistFlake8Linter.php b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistFlake8Linter.php
index dabc0b42..db8e9177 100644
--- a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistFlake8Linter.php
+++ b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistFlake8Linter.php
@@ -78,10 +78,6 @@ final class ArcanistFlake8Linter extends ArcanistExternalLinter {
       $messages[] = $message;
     }
 
-    if ($err && !$messages) {
-      return false;
-    }
-
     return $messages;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistJSONLintLinter.php b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistJSONLintLinter.php
index 2ac0dbbe..d6b13103 100644
--- a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistJSONLintLinter.php
+++ b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistJSONLintLinter.php
@@ -79,10 +79,6 @@ final class ArcanistJSONLintLinter extends ArcanistExternalLinter {
       }
     }
 
-    if ($err && !$messages) {
-      return false;
-    }
-
     return $messages;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistJscsLinter.php b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistJscsLinter.php
index 6d8f2537..d1c0b3c4 100644
--- a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistJscsLinter.php
+++ b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistJscsLinter.php
@@ -129,10 +129,6 @@ final class ArcanistJscsLinter extends ArcanistExternalLinter {
       }
     }
 
-    if ($err && !$messages) {
-      return false;
-    }
-
     return $messages;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistLesscLinter.php b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistLesscLinter.php
index f51660e2..4032b1ed 100644
--- a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistLesscLinter.php
+++ b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistLesscLinter.php
@@ -177,10 +177,6 @@ final class ArcanistLesscLinter extends ArcanistExternalLinter {
       }
     }
 
-    if ($err && !$messages) {
-      return false;
-    }
-
     return $messages;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPEP8Linter.php b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPEP8Linter.php
index a021ba83..f1cb21ee 100644
--- a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPEP8Linter.php
+++ b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPEP8Linter.php
@@ -70,10 +70,6 @@ final class ArcanistPEP8Linter extends ArcanistExternalLinter {
       $messages[] = $message;
     }
 
-    if ($err && !$messages) {
-      return false;
-    }
-
     return $messages;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPuppetLintLinter.php b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPuppetLintLinter.php
index ea5b66cf..8336cd42 100644
--- a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPuppetLintLinter.php
+++ b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPuppetLintLinter.php
@@ -133,10 +133,6 @@ final class ArcanistPuppetLintLinter extends ArcanistExternalLinter {
       $messages[] = $message;
     }
 
-    if ($err && !$messages) {
-      return false;
-    }
-
     return $messages;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPyFlakesLinter.php b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPyFlakesLinter.php
index 11ede0c3..3a79e02e 100644
--- a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPyFlakesLinter.php
+++ b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPyFlakesLinter.php
@@ -77,10 +77,6 @@ final class ArcanistPyFlakesLinter extends ArcanistExternalLinter {
       $messages[] = $message;
     }
 
-    if ($err && !$messages) {
-      return false;
-    }
-
     return $messages;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPyLintLinter.php b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPyLintLinter.php
index 46be2f45..111cc27e 100644
--- a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPyLintLinter.php
+++ b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistPyLintLinter.php
@@ -142,10 +142,6 @@ final class ArcanistPyLintLinter extends ArcanistExternalLinter {
       $messages[] = $message;
     }
 
-    if ($err && !$messages) {
-      return false;
-    }
-
     return $messages;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistRubyLinter.php b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistRubyLinter.php
index 3a9845d4..bb29f381 100644
--- a/src/lint/linter/ArcanistRubyLinter.php
+++ b/src/lint/linter/ArcanistRubyLinter.php
@@ -81,10 +81,6 @@ final class ArcanistRubyLinter extends ArcanistExternalLinter {
       $messages[] = $message;
     }
 
-    if ($err && !$messages) {
-      return false;
-    }
-
     return $messages;
   }