diff --git a/send-pack.c b/send-pack.c
index 4448c081cc..856a65d5f5 100644
--- a/send-pack.c
+++ b/send-pack.c
@@ -633,6 +633,7 @@ int send_pack(struct repository *r,
 				error("atomic push failed for ref %s. status: %d",
 				      ref->name, ref->status);
 				ret = ERROR_SEND_PACK_BAD_REF_STATUS;
+				packet_flush(out);
 				goto out;
 			}
 			/* else fallthrough */
diff --git a/t/t5543-atomic-push.sh b/t/t5543-atomic-push.sh
index 32181b9afb..3a700b0676 100755
--- a/t/t5543-atomic-push.sh
+++ b/t/t5543-atomic-push.sh
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ test_expect_success 'atomic push reports (reject by non-ff)' '
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
 
-test_expect_failure 'atomic push reports exit code failure' '
+test_expect_success 'atomic push reports exit code failure' '
 	write_script receive-pack-wrapper <<-\EOF &&
 	git-receive-pack "$@"
 	exit 1
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ test_expect_failure 'atomic push reports exit code failure' '
 	test_cmp expect err
 '
 
-test_expect_failure 'atomic push reports exit code failure with porcelain' '
+test_expect_success 'atomic push reports exit code failure with porcelain' '
 	write_script receive-pack-wrapper <<-\EOF &&
 	git-receive-pack "$@"
 	exit 1
diff --git a/transport.c b/transport.c
index d064aff33e..b0c6c339f4 100644
--- a/transport.c
+++ b/transport.c
@@ -948,15 +948,7 @@ static int git_transport_push(struct transport *transport, struct ref *remote_re
 
 	close(data->fd[1]);
 	close(data->fd[0]);
-	/*
-	 * Atomic push may abort the connection early and close the pipe,
-	 * which may cause an error for `finish_connect()`. Ignore this error
-	 * for atomic git-push.
-	 */
-	if (ret || args.atomic)
-		finish_connect(data->conn);
-	else
-		ret = finish_connect(data->conn);
+	ret |= finish_connect(data->conn);
 	data->conn = NULL;
 	data->finished_handshake = 0;