diff --git a/cmd/tsk/tsk.go b/cmd/tsk/tsk.go
index 1fefa69..8daef3b 100644
--- a/cmd/tsk/tsk.go
+++ b/cmd/tsk/tsk.go
@@ -111,7 +111,10 @@ func main() {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
-	exec.RunTasks(exec.Config, &opts.tasks)
+	if err := exec.RunTasks(exec.Config, &opts.tasks); err != nil {
+		fmt.Println(err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
 }
 
 func parseArgs(args []string, dashIndex int) (tasks []string, cliArgs string) {
diff --git a/internal/task/task_test.go b/internal/task/task_test.go
index df2e590..f146f5d 100644
--- a/internal/task/task_test.go
+++ b/internal/task/task_test.go
@@ -99,8 +99,9 @@ func TestConfig_CompileEnv(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 
 		_, err := config.CompileEnv()
-		if err == nil {
-			t.Fatalf("expected error, got nil")
+		// we expect this to be non-fatal
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("expected nil, got err: %v", err)
 		}
 	})
 }
@@ -204,18 +205,6 @@ func TestTask_CompileEnv(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 		}
 	})
-
-	t.Run("error loading dotenv", func(t *testing.T) {
-		task := Task{
-			DotEnv: "nonexistent.env",
-			Dir:    "/some/nonexistent/path",
-		}
-
-		_, err := task.CompileEnv([]string{})
-		if err == nil {
-			t.Fatalf("expected error, got nil")
-		}
-	})
 }
 
 func TestRunCmd(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/internal/task/util.go b/internal/task/util.go
index 2953fd3..94426ca 100644
--- a/internal/task/util.go
+++ b/internal/task/util.go
@@ -42,7 +42,9 @@ func readDotEnv(filename string) (map[string]string, error) {
 func appendDotEnvToEnv(env []string, dotenv string) ([]string, error) {
 	additionalEnv, err := readDotEnv(dotenv)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		// the dotenv file missing is non-fatal. log a warning and continue
+		fmt.Printf("Warning: Could not load dotenv file %s: %v\n", dotenv, err)
+		return env, nil
 	}
 	env = append(env, ConvertEnvToStringSlice(additionalEnv)...)
 	return env, nil