diff --git a/Shelly.hs b/Shelly.hs
--- a/Shelly.hs
+++ b/Shelly.hs
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
          , readfile, writefile, appendfile, touchfile, withTmpDir
 
          -- * exiting the program
-         , exit, errorExit, terror
+         , exit, errorExit, quietExit, terror
 
          -- * Exceptions
          , catchany, catch_sh, finally_sh, ShellyHandler(..), catches_sh, catchany_sh
@@ -367,6 +367,7 @@
 pwd :: Sh FilePath
 pwd = gets sDirectory `tag` "pwd"
 
+-- | exit 0 means no errors, all other codes are error conditions
 exit :: Int -> Sh ()
 exit 0 = liftIO (exitWith ExitSuccess) `tag` "exit 0"
 exit n = liftIO (exitWith (ExitFailure n)) `tag` ("exit " `mappend` LT.pack (show n))
@@ -375,6 +376,11 @@
 errorExit :: Text -> Sh ()
 errorExit msg = echo msg >> exit 1
 
+-- | for exiting with status > 0 without printing debug information
+quietExit :: Int -> Sh ()
+quietExit 0 = exit 0
+quietExit n = throw $ QuietExit n
+
 -- | fail that takes a Text
 terror :: Text -> Sh a
 terror = fail . LT.unpack
@@ -575,6 +581,8 @@
                   ExitSuccess   -> liftIO $ throwIO ex
                   ExitFailure _ -> throwExplainedException ex
               )
+            , ShellyHandler (\ex -> case ex of
+                                     QuietExit n -> liftIO $ throwIO $ ExitFailure n)
             , ShellyHandler (\(ex::SomeException) -> throwExplainedException ex)
           ]
   liftIO $ runSh caught stref
@@ -658,6 +666,9 @@
   where
     toSSH (exe,args) = show_command exe args
 
+
+data QuietExit = QuietExit Int deriving (Show, Typeable)
+instance Exception QuietExit
 
 data ReThrownException e = ReThrownException e String deriving (Typeable)
 instance Exception e => Exception (ReThrownException e)
diff --git a/Shelly/Base.hs b/Shelly/Base.hs
--- a/Shelly/Base.hs
+++ b/Shelly/Base.hs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     relPath, path, absPath, canonic, canonicalize,
     test_d, test_s,
     unpack, gets, get, modify, trace,
-    ls,
+    ls, lsRelAbs,
     toTextIgnore,
     echo, echo_n, echo_err, echo_n_err, inspect, inspect_err,
     catchany,
@@ -192,14 +192,19 @@
 -- include (other) hidden files.
 ls :: FilePath -> Sh [FilePath]
 -- it is important to use path and not absPath so that the listing can remain relative
-ls f = absPath f >>= \fp -> do
+ls fp = do
   trace $ "ls " `mappend` toTextIgnore fp
-  filt <- if not (relative f) then return (return)
+  fmap fst $ lsRelAbs fp
+
+lsRelAbs :: FilePath -> Sh ([FilePath], [FilePath])
+lsRelAbs f = absPath f >>= \fp -> do
+  filt <- if not (relative f) then return return
              else do
                wd <- gets sDirectory
                return (relativeTo wd)
-  contents <- liftIO $ listDirectory fp
-  mapM filt contents
+  absolute <- liftIO $ listDirectory fp
+  relativized <- mapM filt absolute
+  return (relativized, absolute)
 
 -- | silently uses the Right or Left value of "Filesystem.Path.CurrentOS.toText"
 toTextIgnore :: FilePath -> Text
diff --git a/Shelly/Find.hs b/Shelly/Find.hs
--- a/Shelly/Find.hs
+++ b/Shelly/Find.hs
@@ -57,15 +57,16 @@
   absDir <- absPath dir
   trace ("find " `mappend` toTextIgnore absDir)
   filt <- dirFilter absDir
-  if filt
+  if not filt then return startValue
     -- use possible relative path, not absolute so that listing will remain relative
-    then ls dir >>= foldM traverse startValue
-    else return startValue
+    else do
+      (rPaths, aPaths) <- lsRelAbs dir 
+      foldM traverse startValue (zip rPaths aPaths)
   where
-    traverse acc x = do
+    traverse acc (relPath, absPath) = do
       -- optimization: don't use Shelly API since our path is already good
-      isDir <- liftIO $ isDirectory x
-      sym   <- liftIO $ fmap isSymbolicLink $ getSymbolicLinkStatus (unpack x)
+      isDir <- liftIO $ isDirectory absPath
+      sym   <- liftIO $ fmap isSymbolicLink $ getSymbolicLinkStatus (unpack absPath)
       if isDir && not sym
-        then findFold folder acc x
-        else folder acc x
+        then findFold folder acc relPath
+        else folder acc relPath
diff --git a/shelly.cabal b/shelly.cabal
--- a/shelly.cabal
+++ b/shelly.cabal
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Name:       shelly
 
-Version:     0.13.2
+Version:     0.13.2.1
 Synopsis:    shell-like (systems) programming in Haskell
 
 Description: Shelly provides convenient systems programming in Haskell,