diff --git a/include/villas/utils.h b/include/villas/utils.h
index 838cb73df..138426e47 100644
--- a/include/villas/utils.h
+++ b/include/villas/utils.h
@@ -241,8 +241,8 @@ static inline int log2i(long long x) {
 /** Sleep with rdtsc */
 void rdtsc_sleep(uint64_t nanosecs, uint64_t start);
 
-/** Register a exit callback for program termination (SIGINT / SIGKILL). */
-void signals_init(void (*cb)(int signal, siginfo_t *sinfo, void *ctx));
+/** Register a exit callback for program termination: SIGINT, SIGKILL & SIGALRM. */
+int signals_init(void (*cb)(int signal, siginfo_t *sinfo, void *ctx));
 
 /** Send signal \p sig to main thread. */
 void killme(int sig);
diff --git a/lib/utils.c b/lib/utils.c
index 16789dce0..111e979cc 100644
--- a/lib/utils.c
+++ b/lib/utils.c
@@ -299,8 +299,10 @@ void rdtsc_sleep(uint64_t nanosecs, uint64_t start)
 }
 
 /* Setup exit handler */
-void signals_init(void (*cb)(int signal, siginfo_t *sinfo, void *ctx))
+int signals_init(void (*cb)(int signal, siginfo_t *sinfo, void *ctx))
 {
+	int ret;
+
 	info("Initialize signals");
 
 	struct sigaction sa_quit = {
@@ -308,19 +310,32 @@ void signals_init(void (*cb)(int signal, siginfo_t *sinfo, void *ctx))
 		.sa_sigaction = cb
 	};
 	
-	main_thread = pthread_self();
-
-	sigemptyset(&sa_quit.sa_mask);
-	sigaction(SIGINT, &sa_quit, NULL);
-	sigaction(SIGTERM, &sa_quit, NULL);
-	sigaction(SIGALRM, &sa_quit, NULL);
-
 	struct sigaction sa_chld = {
 		.sa_flags = 0,
 		.sa_handler = SIG_IGN
 	};
+	
+	main_thread = pthread_self();
 
-	sigaction(SIGCHLD, &sa_chld, NULL);
+	sigemptyset(&sa_quit.sa_mask);
+	
+	ret = sigaction(SIGINT, &sa_quit, NULL);
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
+	
+	ret = sigaction(SIGTERM, &sa_quit, NULL);
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
+	
+	ret = sigaction(SIGALRM, &sa_quit, NULL);
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
+
+	ret = sigaction(SIGCHLD, &sa_chld, NULL);
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
+	
+	return 0;
 }
 
 void killme(int sig)