diff --git a/src/gitea_runner_manager/executor.py b/src/gitea_runner_manager/executor.py
index 3c910f9..ce63846 100644
--- a/src/gitea_runner_manager/executor.py
+++ b/src/gitea_runner_manager/executor.py
@@ -109,6 +109,15 @@ class AnsibleExecutor:
             capture_output=True,
             text=True,
         )
+        if proc.returncode != 0:
+            stderr = proc.stderr.strip() if proc.stderr else ""
+            raise AnsibleError(
+                _(
+                    "Ad-hoc command failed on {host}: {stderr}",
+                    host=host,
+                    stderr=stderr or _("exit code {code}", code=proc.returncode),
+                )
+            )
         return proc.stdout.strip()
 
     def _extract_status(self, log_file: Path) -> str | None:
diff --git a/src/gitea_runner_manager/i18n.py b/src/gitea_runner_manager/i18n.py
index 51b11df..2752880 100644
--- a/src/gitea_runner_manager/i18n.py
+++ b/src/gitea_runner_manager/i18n.py
@@ -474,6 +474,20 @@ TRANSLATIONS: dict[str, dict[str, str]] = {
         "ru": "Пропустить удаленную очистку и удалить только локальную запись реестра",
         "zh": "跳过远程清理，仅删除本地注册表条目",
     },
+    "Ad-hoc command failed on {host}: {stderr}": {
+        "en": "Ad-hoc command failed on {host}: {stderr}",
+        "bg": "Ad-hoc командата неуспешна на {host}: {stderr}",
+        "de": "Ad-hoc-Befehl auf {host} fehlgeschlagen: {stderr}",
+        "ru": "Ad-hoc команда не удалась на {host}: {stderr}",
+        "zh": "Ad-hoc 命令在 {host} 上失败: {stderr}",
+    },
+    "exit code {code}": {
+        "en": "exit code {code}",
+        "bg": "код за изход {code}",
+        "de": "Exit-Code {code}",
+        "ru": "код выхода {code}",
+        "zh": "退出代码 {code}",
+    },
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/gitea_runner_manager/runner_manager.py b/src/gitea_runner_manager/runner_manager.py
index 4873d8a..4faca9f 100644
--- a/src/gitea_runner_manager/runner_manager.py
+++ b/src/gitea_runner_manager/runner_manager.py
@@ -281,7 +281,9 @@ class RunnerManager:
             key = info.get("key")
             mode = info.get("mode", "docker")
             try:
-                stdout = self._executor.run_ad_hoc(host, user, key, "shell", f"systemctl is-active gitea-runner@{name}")
+                stdout = self._executor.run_ad_hoc(
+                    host, user, key, "shell", f"systemctl is-active gitea-runner@{name}", become=True
+                )
                 # Filter out ansible noise (SSH warnings etc)
                 lines = [ln for ln in stdout.splitlines() if ln.strip() and not ln.startswith(("[WARNING]", "ssh:"))]
                 service_status = lines[-1].strip() if lines else "unknown"
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_executor.py b/tests/unit/test_executor.py
index b8c5974..3f6258e 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_executor.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_executor.py
@@ -206,3 +206,14 @@ class TestAnsibleExecutorAdHoc:
         assert result == "ok"
         cmd = mock_run.call_args.args[0]
         assert "--become" in cmd
+
+    def test_run_ad_hoc_failure_raises(self, tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+        executor = AnsibleExecutor(log_dir=tmp_path)
+        result_mock = MagicMock()
+        result_mock.stdout = ""
+        result_mock.returncode = 1
+        result_mock.stderr = "SSH timeout"
+
+        with patch("subprocess.run", return_value=result_mock):
+            with pytest.raises(AnsibleError, match="SSH timeout"):
+                executor.run_ad_hoc("10.0.0.1", "ubuntu", None, "shell", "cmd")
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_runner_manager.py b/tests/unit/test_runner_manager.py
index 7743c5e..80a9882 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_runner_manager.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_runner_manager.py
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ class TestRunnerManager:
         assert runners[0]["host"] == "10.0.0.1"
         assert runners[0]["status"] == "active"
         mock_executor.run_ad_hoc.assert_called_once_with(
-            "10.0.0.1", "ubuntu", "/key", "shell", "systemctl is-active gitea-runner@r1"
+            "10.0.0.1", "ubuntu", "/key", "shell", "systemctl is-active gitea-runner@r1", become=True
         )
 
     def test_list_runners_empty(self) -> None: