diff --git a/runtime/dispatch.c b/runtime/dispatch.c
index 608ee482..13001ac6 100644
--- a/runtime/dispatch.c
+++ b/runtime/dispatch.c
@@ -88,21 +88,26 @@ void rt_rumble_stop_bounded(void) {
 // where it was, together with its wait for a save Commit and RivaTuner's restore, and its own FATAL line and exit
 // code replaced the first (the launcher shows the last FATAL). Another thread now waits until the first end is done;
 // it logs nothing, since it may hold the log queue's lock, which the first report only tries. A first report that
-// hangs still ends: after 30 s the waiting thread ends the process with the crash report's code.
+// hangs still ends: after 30 s the waiting thread ends the process with the first report's own code (a fatal error's
+// 70 or 72, the crash report's 71), so the launcher reads the end as the report says it.
 static volatile uint32_t ending_tid;   // the thread that reports, 0 before one does
+static volatile int32_t ending_code = 71;   // the code that report ends with, stored right after it took ending_tid
 
-int rt_ending_enter(void) {
+int rt_ending_enter(int code) {
     uint32_t me = plat_thread_id(), was = 0;
-    if (__atomic_compare_exchange_n(&ending_tid, &was, me, 0, __ATOMIC_ACQ_REL, __ATOMIC_ACQUIRE)) return 1;
+    if (__atomic_compare_exchange_n(&ending_tid, &was, me, 0, __ATOMIC_ACQ_REL, __ATOMIC_ACQUIRE)) {
+        __atomic_store_n(&ending_code, code, __ATOMIC_RELEASE);
+        return 1;
+    }
     if (was == me) return 0;
     for (int i = 0; i < 3000; i++) plat_sleep_ms(10);
-    plat_terminate(71);
+    plat_terminate(__atomic_load_n(&ending_code, __ATOMIC_ACQUIRE));
 }
 
 // The fatal line, the report's notes and what has to be flushed, then the exit with `code`.
 static void fatal_end(int code, const char *fmt, va_list ap) __attribute__((noreturn));
 static void fatal_end(int code, const char *fmt, va_list ap) {
-    if (!rt_ending_enter()) plat_terminate(code);   // a fatal error inside this thread's own report: no second one
+    if (!rt_ending_enter(code)) plat_terminate(code);   // a fatal error inside this thread's own report: no second one
     rt_log_ending();   // the report reaches the log file past its cap (main.c log_sink)
     rt_log_sync();   // main.c: the lines queued for the log thread, then these, written here
     rt_log_raw("FATAL: ", 7);
diff --git a/runtime/dispatch.h b/runtime/dispatch.h
index 5ecb436e..255ab386 100644
--- a/runtime/dispatch.h
+++ b/runtime/dispatch.h
@@ -62,9 +62,10 @@ void rt_fatal_code(int code, const char *fmt, ...) __attribute__((noreturn, form
 // needs none. At most four; adding one twice keeps one. rt_fatal_notes runs them, once per process.
 void rt_fatal_note_add(void (*fn)(void));
 void rt_fatal_notes(void);
-// The one end of a failed run: the fatal error (rt_fatal) and the crash report (main.c crash_handler) call it first. 1
-// for the first caller, which reports and ends the process; 0 for that thread again (a failure inside its own report),
-// which ends at once with its code; any other thread waits, logging nothing, until the process ends (30 s at most).
-int rt_ending_enter(void);
+// The one end of a failed run: the fatal error (rt_fatal) and the crash report (main.c crash_handler) call it first,
+// with the code they end the process with. 1 for the first caller, which reports and ends the process; 0 for that
+// thread again (a failure inside its own report), which ends at once with its code; any other thread waits, logging
+// nothing, until the process ends, and after 30 s ends it with the first caller's code.
+int rt_ending_enter(int code);
 // HD rumble stopped before a failed run ends, on a thread of its own that the caller waits for 300 ms at most.
 void rt_rumble_stop_bounded(void);
diff --git a/runtime/main.c b/runtime/main.c
index 54d81e7a..ed9035e6 100644
--- a/runtime/main.c
+++ b/runtime/main.c
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ static int mode_rc;
 static void crash_handler(const PlatCrash *x) {
     // shared with the fatal error's end (dispatch.c rt_ending_enter): another thread's fault or fatal error waits there
     // while this report is written; a fault inside this thread's own report ends the process at once
-    if (!rt_ending_enter()) plat_exit(71);
+    if (!rt_ending_enter(71)) plat_exit(71);
     rt_log_ending();   // the report reaches the log file past its cap (log_sink)
     if (__atomic_load_n(&mode_done, __ATOMIC_ACQUIRE) && x->module) {
         rt_log("exit: %s (%#x) in %s while the process was ending, after its work was done and saved%s: the run ends "
diff --git a/tests/fatal_exit_check.c b/tests/fatal_exit_check.c
index e9840d9e..7b8639da 100644
--- a/tests/fatal_exit_check.c
+++ b/tests/fatal_exit_check.c
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ void input_rumble_hd_stop(void) {
 
 // ---- the crash report and the threads that fail beside it
 static void crash(const PlatCrash *x) {
-    if (!rt_ending_enter()) plat_exit(71);   // main.c crash_handler's first line
+    if (!rt_ending_enter(71)) plat_exit(71);   // main.c crash_handler's first line
     char b[160];
     for (int i = 1; i <= 3; i++) {
         snprintf(b, sizeof b, "report line %d: %s on thread %lu\n", i, x->what, (unsigned long)GetCurrentThreadId());
diff --git a/tests/fatal_exit_check.py b/tests/fatal_exit_check.py
index c75e7e6c..3b97f8bc 100644
--- a/tests/fatal_exit_check.py
+++ b/tests/fatal_exit_check.py
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ def static_checks():
     main_c = (RT / 'main.c').read_text(encoding='utf-8')
     body = re.sub(r'//[^\n]*', '', function(main_c, 'static void crash_handler(const PlatCrash *x)'))
     first = body[body.index('{') + 1:].strip().split('\n')[0].strip()
-    ok = first == 'if (!rt_ending_enter()) plat_exit(71);'
+    ok = first == 'if (!rt_ending_enter(71)) plat_exit(71);'
     print(f'static: main.c crash_handler starts with the shared guard: {"ok" if ok else "FAIL (" + first + ")"}',
           flush=True)
     bad += not ok
@@ -95,6 +95,15 @@ def static_checks():
         print(f'static: {name} stops HD rumble through rt_rumble_stop_bounded after the RTSS restore: '
               f'{"ok" if ok else "FAIL"}', flush=True)
         bad += not ok
+    # a first report that hangs: the thread that waits for it ends the process after 30 s with that report's code, and
+    # fatal_end hands its own code to the guard (a hung FATAL must not read as a crash to the launcher)
+    dispatch = re.sub(r'//[^\n]*', '', (RT / 'dispatch.c').read_text(encoding='utf-8'))
+    enter = function(dispatch, 'int rt_ending_enter(int code)')
+    ok = ('__atomic_store_n(&ending_code, code' in enter
+          and 'plat_terminate(__atomic_load_n(&ending_code' in enter and 'rt_ending_enter(code)' in fatal)
+    print(f'static: dispatch.c rt_ending_enter ends a hung first report with that report\'s code: '
+          f'{"ok" if ok else "FAIL"}', flush=True)
+    bad += not ok
     # the fatal error's frame-time summary comes after the RTSS restore and the rumble stop, as in the orderly end
     s, p = fatal.find('rt_rumble_stop_bounded('), fatal.find('perf_summary_flush_try(')
     ok = 0 <= s < p