diff --git a/datalad_next/runners/git.py b/datalad_next/runners/git.py
index 7c0a2d35..f52c321e 100644
--- a/datalad_next/runners/git.py
+++ b/datalad_next/runners/git.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ def _call_git(
         # normalize exception to datalad-wide standard
         raise CommandError(
             cmd=cmd,
-            code=e.returncode,
+            returncode=e.returncode,
             stdout=e.stdout,
             stderr=e.stderr,
             cwd=cwd,
diff --git a/datalad_next/shell/shell.py b/datalad_next/shell/shell.py
index 64e10e00..2b451c80 100644
--- a/datalad_next/shell/shell.py
+++ b/datalad_next/shell/shell.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def to_exception(self,
                     if isinstance(command, bytes)
                     else str(command),
                 msg=message,
-                code=self.returncode,
+                returncode=self.returncode,
                 stdout=self.stdout,
                 stderr=self.stderr,
             )