diff --git a/lstmcpipe/tests/test_utils.py b/lstmcpipe/tests/test_utils.py
index 9e804ea3..3b593af8 100644
--- a/lstmcpipe/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/lstmcpipe/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -31,22 +31,30 @@ def test_save_log_to_file(tmp_path):
 
 
 def test_rerun_cmd():
-
     with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp_dir:
         file, filename = tempfile.mkstemp(dir=tmp_dir)
         cmd = f'echo "1" >> {filename}; rm nonexistingfile'
+
         # first test: the cmd fails 3 times but the outfile stays in place
-        subdir_failures = ''
-        rerun_cmd(cmd, filename, max_ntry=3, subdir_failures=subdir_failures, shell=True)
-        filename = Path(filename)
-        filename = Path(tmp_dir).joinpath(subdir_failures, filename.name)
-        assert open(filename).read() == "1\n1\n1\n"
+        subdir_failures = ""
+        try:
+            n_tries = rerun_cmd(cmd, filename, max_ntry=3, subdir_failures=subdir_failures, shell=True)
+            filename = Path(filename)
+            filename = Path(tmp_dir).joinpath(subdir_failures, filename.name)
+            assert open(filename).read() == "1\n1\n1\n"
+            assert n_tries == 3
+        except Exception as e:
+            assert isinstance(e, RuntimeError)
+
         # 2nd test: the cmd fails and the outfile is moved in subdir
-        subdir_failures = 'fail'
-        rerun_cmd(cmd, filename, max_ntry=3, subdir_failures=subdir_failures, shell=True)
-        filename = filename.parent.joinpath(subdir_failures).joinpath(filename.name)
-        assert open(filename).read() == "1\n"
-        assert filename.exists()
+        subdir_failures = "fail"
+        try:
+            rerun_cmd(cmd, filename, max_ntry=3, subdir_failures=subdir_failures, shell=True)
+            filename = filename.parent.joinpath(subdir_failures).joinpath(filename.name)
+            assert open(filename).read() == "1\n"
+            assert filename.exists()
+        except Exception as e:
+            assert isinstance(e, RuntimeError)
 
 
 def test_rerun_cmd_lstchain_mc_r0_to_dl1(mc_gamma_testfile):
diff --git a/lstmcpipe/utils.py b/lstmcpipe/utils.py
index 59fd59a0..1db5873b 100644
--- a/lstmcpipe/utils.py
+++ b/lstmcpipe/utils.py
@@ -109,40 +109,55 @@ def batch_mc_production_check(
     return jobid
 
 
-def rerun_cmd(cmd, outfile, max_ntry=2, subdir_failures='failed_outputs', **run_kwargs):
+def rerun_cmd(cmd, outfile, max_ntry=2, subdir_failures="failed_outputs", **run_kwargs):
     """
-    rerun r0_to_dl1 process given by `cmd` as long as the exit code is 0 and number of try < max_ntry
-    move the failed output file to subdir failed_outputs
+    Rerun the command up to max_ntry times.
+    If all attempts fail, raise an exception.
 
     Parameters
     ----------
-    cmd: str
-    subdir_failures: str
+    cmd: list
+        Command to run as a list of strings
     outfile: Path
-        path to the cmd output file
+        Path to the cmd output file
     max_ntry: int
-    run_kwargs: kwargs for subprocess.run
-
-    Returns
-    -------
-    ntry: int
-        number of tries actually run
+        Maximum number of attempts to run the command
+    subdir_failures: str
+        Subdirectory to move failed output files to
+    run_kwargs: kwargs
+        Additional keyword arguments for subprocess.run
+
+    Raises
+    ------
+    RuntimeError
+        If the command fails after all retry attempts
     """
     outfile = Path(outfile)
-    ret = -1
-    ntry = 1
-    while ret != 0 and ntry <= max_ntry:
-        ret = sp.run(cmd, **run_kwargs).returncode
-        if ret != 0:
-            failed_jobs_subdir = outfile.parent.joinpath(subdir_failures)
-            if outfile.exists():
-                failed_jobs_subdir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
-                outfile_target = failed_jobs_subdir.joinpath(outfile.name)
-                print(f"Move failed output file from {outfile} to {outfile_target}. try #{ntry}")
-                shutil.move(outfile, outfile_target)
-
-        ntry += 1
-    return ntry - 1
+    for ntry in range(1, max_ntry + 1):
+        result = sp.run(cmd, **run_kwargs, capture_output=True, text=True, check=False)
+
+        if result.returncode == 0:
+            return ntry  # Success, return the number of tries it took
+
+        # Command failed, handle the error
+        failed_jobs_subdir = outfile.parent.joinpath(subdir_failures)
+        if outfile.exists():
+            failed_jobs_subdir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+            outfile_target = failed_jobs_subdir.joinpath(outfile.name)
+            print(f"Move failed output file from {outfile} to {outfile_target}. try #{ntry}")
+            shutil.move(outfile, outfile_target)
+
+        # If this was the last try, raise an exception
+        if ntry == max_ntry:
+            error_message = f"Command failed after {max_ntry} attempts. Last failure details:\n"
+            error_message += f"Command: {' '.join(cmd)}\n"
+            error_message += f"Return code: {result.returncode}\n"
+            error_message += f"STDOUT: {result.stdout}\n"
+            error_message += f"STDERR: {result.stderr}\n"
+            raise RuntimeError(error_message)
+
+    # This line should never be reached due to the raise in the loop
+    raise RuntimeError("Unexpected error in rerun_cmd")
 
 
 def dump_lstchain_std_config(filename='lstchain_config.json', allsky=True, overwrite=False):