diff --git a/openerp/tools/misc.py b/openerp/tools/misc.py
index dd5ea8688eb..3231bb3f88f 100644
--- a/openerp/tools/misc.py
+++ b/openerp/tools/misc.py
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ def exec_command_pipe(name, *args):
     prog = find_in_path(name)
     if not prog:
         raise Exception('Command `%s` not found.' % name)
-    _exec_pipe(prog, *args)
+    return _exec_pipe(prog, *args)
 
 #----------------------------------------------------------
 # Postgres subprocesses