diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_command.ps1 b/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_command.ps1
index 0c4d36da75..f2763d0295 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_command.ps1
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_command.ps1
@@ -159,14 +159,14 @@ $proc.WaitForExit() | Out-Null
 
 $result.rc = $proc.ExitCode
 
-If ($result.rc -ne 0) {
-    $result.failed = $true
-}
-
 $end_datetime = [DateTime]::UtcNow
 
 $result.start = $start_datetime.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss.ffffff")
 $result.end = $end_datetime.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss.ffffff")
 $result.delta = $($end_datetime - $start_datetime).ToString("h\:mm\:ss\.ffffff")
 
+If ($result.rc -ne 0) {
+    Fail-Json -obj $result -message "non-zero return code"
+}
+
 Exit-Json $result
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_msg.ps1 b/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_msg.ps1
index 92ce049f0e..04cf80b2ba 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_msg.ps1
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_msg.ps1
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ $result.runtime_seconds = $stopwatch.Elapsed.TotalSeconds
 $result.sent_localtime = $endsend_at.Trim()
 
 if ($result.rc -ne 0 ) {
-    Fail-Json $result "$output"
+    Fail-Json -obj $result -message "$output"
 }
   
 Exit-Json $result
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_shell.ps1 b/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_shell.ps1
index 3b1e2d163b..3e4f4dc441 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_shell.ps1
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/windows/win_shell.ps1
@@ -168,14 +168,14 @@ $proc.WaitForExit() | Out-Null
 
 $result.rc = $proc.ExitCode
 
-If ($result.rc -ne 0) {
-    $result.failed = $true
-}
-
 $end_datetime = [DateTime]::UtcNow
 
 $result.start = $start_datetime.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss.ffffff")
 $result.end = $end_datetime.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss.ffffff")
 $result.delta = $($end_datetime - $start_datetime).ToString("h\:mm\:ss\.ffffff")
 
+If ($result.rc -ne 0) {
+    Fail-Json -obj $result -message "non-zero return code"
+}
+
 Exit-Json $result