diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 5881fb0f..163fe6a5 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -329,6 +329,10 @@ func main() {
 					Value: 0,
 					Usage: "output NUM lines of context around changes",
 				},
+				cli.BoolFlag{
+					Name:  "detailed-exitcode",
+					Usage: "return a non-zero exit code 2 instead of 0 when there were changes detected AND the changes are synced successfully",
+				},
 				cli.StringFlag{
 					Name:  "args",
 					Value: "",
@@ -625,11 +629,11 @@ func action(do func(*app.App, configImpl) error) func(*cli.Context) error {
 
 		a := app.New(conf)
 
-		a.ErrorHandler = func(err error) error {
+		if err := do(a, conf); err != nil {
 			return toCliError(implCtx, err)
 		}
 
-		return do(a, conf)
+		return nil
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/app/app.go b/pkg/app/app.go
index 15a7efdf..38636b49 100644
--- a/pkg/app/app.go
+++ b/pkg/app/app.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
+	"sync"
 	"syscall"
 	"text/tabwriter"
 
@@ -40,8 +41,6 @@ type App struct {
 
 	FileOrDir string
 
-	ErrorHandler func(error) error
-
 	readFile          func(string) ([]byte, error)
 	fileExists        func(string) (bool, error)
 	glob              func(string) ([]string, error)
@@ -144,9 +143,31 @@ func (a *App) Sync(c SyncConfigProvider) error {
 }
 
 func (a *App) Apply(c ApplyConfigProvider) error {
-	return a.ForEachState(func(run *Run) (bool, []error) {
-		return a.apply(run, c)
+	var any bool
+
+	mut := &sync.Mutex{}
+
+	err := a.ForEachState(func(run *Run) (bool, []error) {
+		matched, updated, errs := a.apply(run, c)
+
+		mut.Lock()
+		any = any || updated
+		mut.Unlock()
+
+		return matched, errs
 	})
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if c.DetailedExitcode() && any {
+		code := 2
+
+		return &Error{msg: "", Errors: nil, code: &code}
+	}
+
+	return nil
 }
 
 func (a *App) Status(c StatusesConfigProvider) error {
@@ -410,10 +431,6 @@ func (a *App) ForEachStateFiltered(do func(*Run) []error) error {
 		return do(run)
 	})
 
-	if err != nil && a.ErrorHandler != nil {
-		return a.ErrorHandler(err)
-	}
-
 	return err
 }
 
@@ -424,10 +441,6 @@ func (a *App) ForEachState(do func(*Run) (bool, []error)) error {
 		return do(run)
 	})
 
-	if err != nil && a.ErrorHandler != nil {
-		return a.ErrorHandler(err)
-	}
-
 	return err
 }
 
@@ -661,7 +674,7 @@ func (a *App) findDesiredStateFiles(specifiedPath string) ([]string, error) {
 	return files, nil
 }
 
-func (a *App) apply(r *Run, c ApplyConfigProvider) (bool, []error) {
+func (a *App) apply(r *Run, c ApplyConfigProvider) (bool, bool, []error) {
 	st := r.state
 	helm := r.helm
 	ctx := r.ctx
@@ -670,10 +683,10 @@ func (a *App) apply(r *Run, c ApplyConfigProvider) (bool, []error) {
 
 	toApply, err := st.GetSelectedReleasesWithOverrides()
 	if err != nil {
-		return false, []error{err}
+		return false, false, []error{err}
 	}
 	if len(toApply) == 0 {
-		return false, nil
+		return false, false, nil
 	}
 
 	// Do build deps and prepare only on selected releases so that we won't waste time
@@ -682,14 +695,14 @@ func (a *App) apply(r *Run, c ApplyConfigProvider) (bool, []error) {
 
 	if !c.SkipDeps() {
 		if errs := ctx.SyncReposOnce(st, helm); errs != nil && len(errs) > 0 {
-			return false, errs
+			return false, false, errs
 		}
 		if errs := st.BuildDeps(helm); errs != nil && len(errs) > 0 {
-			return false, errs
+			return false, false, errs
 		}
 	}
 	if errs := st.PrepareReleases(helm, "apply"); errs != nil && len(errs) > 0 {
-		return false, errs
+		return false, false, errs
 	}
 
 	// helm must be 2.11+ and helm-diff should be provided `--detailed-exitcode` in order for `helmfile apply` to work properly
@@ -730,7 +743,7 @@ func (a *App) apply(r *Run, c ApplyConfigProvider) (bool, []error) {
 	}
 
 	if len(fatalErrs) > 0 {
-		return false, fatalErrs
+		return false, false, fatalErrs
 	}
 
 	releasesToBeDeleted := map[string]state.ReleaseSpec{}
@@ -755,7 +768,7 @@ func (a *App) apply(r *Run, c ApplyConfigProvider) (bool, []error) {
 		logger := c.Logger()
 		logger.Infof("")
 		logger.Infof("No affected releases")
-		return true, nil
+		return true, false, nil
 	}
 
 	names := []string{}
@@ -838,7 +851,7 @@ Do you really want to apply?
 	}
 
 	affectedReleases.DisplayAffectedReleases(c.Logger())
-	return true, syncErrs
+	return true, true, syncErrs
 }
 
 func (a *App) delete(r *Run, purge bool, c DestroyConfigProvider) (bool, []error) {
@@ -1133,6 +1146,8 @@ type Error struct {
 	msg string
 
 	Errors []error
+
+	code *int
 }
 
 func (e *Error) Error() string {
@@ -1165,6 +1180,10 @@ func (e *Error) Error() string {
 }
 
 func (e *Error) Code() int {
+	if e.code != nil {
+		return *e.code
+	}
+
 	allDiff := false
 	anyNonZero := false
 	for _, err := range e.Errors {
@@ -1195,7 +1214,7 @@ func (e *Error) Code() int {
 }
 
 func appError(msg string, err error) error {
-	return &Error{msg, []error{err}}
+	return &Error{msg: msg, Errors: []error{err}}
 }
 
 func (c context) clean(errs []error) error {
diff --git a/pkg/app/app_test.go b/pkg/app/app_test.go
index b74f9d33..343af86a 100644
--- a/pkg/app/app_test.go
+++ b/pkg/app/app_test.go
@@ -1890,17 +1890,18 @@ func (c configImpl) Concurrency() int {
 }
 
 type applyConfig struct {
-	args            string
-	values          []string
-	set             []string
-	skipDeps        bool
-	suppressSecrets bool
-	suppressDiff    bool
-	noColor         bool
-	context         int
-	concurrency     int
-	interactive     bool
-	logger          *zap.SugaredLogger
+	args             string
+	values           []string
+	set              []string
+	skipDeps         bool
+	suppressSecrets  bool
+	suppressDiff     bool
+	noColor          bool
+	context          int
+	concurrency      int
+	detailedExitcode bool
+	interactive      bool
+	logger           *zap.SugaredLogger
 }
 
 func (a applyConfig) Args() string {
@@ -1939,6 +1940,10 @@ func (a applyConfig) Concurrency() int {
 	return a.concurrency
 }
 
+func (a applyConfig) DetailedExitcode() bool {
+	return a.detailedExitcode
+}
+
 func (a applyConfig) Interactive() bool {
 	return a.interactive
 }
diff --git a/pkg/app/config.go b/pkg/app/config.go
index 63e1c21f..377d325a 100644
--- a/pkg/app/config.go
+++ b/pkg/app/config.go
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ type ApplyConfigProvider interface {
 	SuppressSecrets() bool
 	SuppressDiff() bool
 
+	DetailedExitcode() bool
+
 	NoColor() bool
 	Context() int
 
diff --git a/test/integration/run.sh b/test/integration/run.sh
index ec9605fb..14707b4c 100755
--- a/test/integration/run.sh
+++ b/test/integration/run.sh
@@ -77,6 +77,9 @@ ${helmfile} -f ${dir}/happypath.yaml template
 code=$?
 [ ${code} -eq 0 ] || fail "unexpected exit code returned by helmfile template: ${code}"
 
+info "Applying ${dir}/happypath.yaml"
+bash -c "${helmfile} -f ${dir}/happypath.yaml apply --detailed-exitcode; code="'$?'"; echo Code: "'$code'"; [ "'${code}'" -eq 2 ]" || fail "unexpected exit code returned by helmfile apply"
+
 info "Syncing ${dir}/happypath.yaml"
 ${helmfile} -f ${dir}/happypath.yaml sync
 wait_deploy_ready httpbin-httpbin
@@ -84,9 +87,9 @@ retry 5 "curl --fail $(minikube service --url --namespace=${test_ns} httpbin-htt
 [ ${retry_result} -eq 0 ] || fail "httpbin failed to return 200 OK"
 
 info "Applying ${dir}/happypath.yaml"
-${helmfile} -f ${dir}/happypath.yaml apply
+${helmfile} -f ${dir}/happypath.yaml apply --detailed-exitcode
 code=$?
-[ ${code} -eq 0 ] || fail "unexpected exit code returned by helmfile apply: ${code}"
+[ ${code} -eq 0 ] || fail "unexpected exit code returned by helmfile apply: want 0, got ${code}"
 
 info "Locking dependencies"
 ${helmfile} -f ${dir}/happypath.yaml deps