diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
index 2b3ada7ebc..8df1ef7080 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog][kac] and this project adheres to
 * double slashes in paths derived from TMPDIR on MacOS (#607)
 * fix `load` in `teardown` marking failed tests as not run (#612)
 * fix unset variable errors (with set -u) and add regression test (#621)
+* `teardown_file` errors don't swallow `setup_file` errors anymore, the behavior
+  is more like `teardown`'s now (only `return`/last command can trigger `teardown`
+   errors) (#623)
 
 #### Documentation
 
diff --git a/libexec/bats-core/bats-exec-file b/libexec/bats-core/bats-exec-file
index de2fafb5b2..336d95a200 100755
--- a/libexec/bats-core/bats-exec-file
+++ b/libexec/bats-core/bats-exec-file
@@ -102,23 +102,35 @@ bats_run_setup_file() {
 }
 
 bats_run_teardown_file() {
+  local bats_teardown_file_status=0
   # avoid running the therdown trap due to errors in teardown_file
   trap 'bats_file_exit_trap' EXIT
-  # rely on bats_error_trap to catch failures
-  teardown_file >>"$BATS_OUT" 2>&1
 
-  BATS_TEARDOWN_FILE_COMPLETED=1
+  # rely on bats_error_trap to catch failures
+  teardown_file >>"$BATS_OUT" 2>&1 || bats_teardown_file_status=$?
+
+  if (( bats_teardown_file_status == 0 )); then
+    BATS_TEARDOWN_FILE_COMPLETED=1
+  elif [[ -n "${BATS_SETUP_FILE_COMPLETED:-}" ]]; then
+    BATS_DEBUG_LAST_STACK_TRACE_IS_VALID=1
+    BATS_ERROR_STATUS=$bats_teardown_file_status
+    return $BATS_ERROR_STATUS
+  fi
 }
 
 bats_file_teardown_trap() {
   bats_run_teardown_file
-  bats_file_exit_trap
+  bats_file_exit_trap in-teardown_trap
 }
 
 # shellcheck source=lib/bats-core/common.bash
 source "$BATS_ROOT/lib/bats-core/common.bash"
 
 bats_file_exit_trap() {
+  local -r last_return_code=$?
+  if [[ ${1:-} != in-teardown_trap ]]; then
+    BATS_ERROR_STATUS=$last_return_code
+  fi
   trap - ERR EXIT
   local failure_reason
   local -i failure_test_index=$(( BATS_FILE_FIRST_TEST_NUMBER_IN_SUITE + 1 ))
diff --git a/test/file_setup_teardown.bats b/test/file_setup_teardown.bats
index 4a212dd1f4..3b8ca38512 100644
--- a/test/file_setup_teardown.bats
+++ b/test/file_setup_teardown.bats
@@ -166,16 +166,12 @@ ok 2 must not see variable from first run" ]]
   [ "${lines[3]}" == "#   \`false' failed" ]
 }
 
-@test "halfway teardown_file errors are caught and reported" {
-  run bats "$FIXTURE_ROOT/teardown_file_halfway_error.bats"
-  echo "$output"
-  [[ $status -ne 0 ]]
-  [[ "${lines[0]}" == "1..1" ]]
-  [[ "${lines[1]}" == "ok 1 empty" ]]
-  [[ "${lines[2]}" == "not ok 2 teardown_file failed" ]]
-  [[ "${lines[3]}" == "# (from function \`teardown_file' in test file $RELATIVE_FIXTURE_ROOT/teardown_file_halfway_error.bats, line 3)" ]]
-  [[ "${lines[4]}" == "#   \`false' failed" ]]
-  [[ "${lines[5]}" == "# bats warning: Executed 2 instead of expected 1 tests" ]] # for now this warning is expected
+@test "halfway teardown_file errors are ignored" {
+  run -0 bats "$FIXTURE_ROOT/teardown_file_halfway_error.bats"
+  [ "${lines[0]}" == "1..1" ]
+  [ "${lines[1]}" == "ok 1 empty" ]
+  [ "${#lines[@]}" -eq 2 ]
+  
 }
 
 @test "variables exported in setup_file are visible in tests" {
@@ -191,3 +187,12 @@ ok 2 must not see variable from first run" ]]
   [ ! -f "$LOG" ] # setup_file must not have been executed!
   [ "${lines[0]}" == '1..1' ] # but at least one test should have been run
 }
+
+@test "Failure in setup_file and teardown_file still prints error message" {
+  run ! bats "$FIXTURE_ROOT/error_in_setup_and_teardown_file.bats"
+  [ "${lines[0]}" == '1..1' ]
+  [ "${lines[1]}" == 'not ok 1 setup_file failed' ]
+  [ "${lines[2]}" == "# (from function \`setup_file' in test file $RELATIVE_FIXTURE_ROOT/error_in_setup_and_teardown_file.bats, line 2)" ]
+  [ "${lines[3]}" == "#   \`false' failed" ]
+  [ "${#lines[@]}" -eq 4 ]
+}
diff --git a/test/fixtures/file_setup_teardown/error_in_setup_and_teardown_file.bats b/test/fixtures/file_setup_teardown/error_in_setup_and_teardown_file.bats
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..24390137ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/file_setup_teardown/error_in_setup_and_teardown_file.bats
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+setup_file() {
+    false
+}
+
+teardown_file() {
+    false
+}
+
+@test dummy {
+    :
+}
\ No newline at end of file