diff --git a/src/python/grpcio/commands.py b/src/python/grpcio/commands.py
index ec116f58abe85ab417e2724d084e67d7f5c331ed..3207ea3052e23638d0c1c7a9bc10ec8079dadf26 100644
--- a/src/python/grpcio/commands.py
+++ b/src/python/grpcio/commands.py
@@ -286,10 +286,11 @@ class TestLite(setuptools.Command):
     runner = tests.Runner()
     result = runner.run(loader.suite)
     if not result.wasSuccessful():
-      sys.exit(1)
+      sys.exit('Test failure')
 
   def _add_eggs_to_path(self):
     """Adds all egg files under .eggs to sys.path"""
+    # TODO(jtattemusch): there has to be a cleaner way to do this
     import pkg_resources
     eggs_dir = os.path.join(PYTHON_STEM, '../../../.eggs')
     eggs = [os.path.join(eggs_dir, filename)