diff --git a/BuildUtils.pm b/BuildUtils.pm
index 69e98dc51..6d8dbf70e 100644
--- a/BuildUtils.pm
+++ b/BuildUtils.pm
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ use File::Copy qw(copy move);
 use File::Basename qw(basename);
 use File::Path qw(make_path remove_tree);
 use POSIX qw(strftime);
+use Pod::Usage qw(pod2usage);
+use feature 'say';
 
 our @EXPORT_OK = qw(
     source_date_epoch snap_release deb_version
@@ -29,11 +31,39 @@ our @EXPORT_OK = qw(
     lock_id_for take_build_lock
     sh_quote clean_debian_residue git_revision
     backup_file restore_file
+    sh usage
 );
 
+# Both builders echo the commands they run under --verbose.  Set once, after
+# option parsing, rather than threaded through every sh() call site.
+our $VERBOSE = 0;
+
 # The xCAT-probe helpers. xcat-probe reuses functions shipped by xCAT; they are COPIED
 # rather than symlinked because a symlink does not survive packaging, and rather than
 # maintained twice because they would drift. Both builders stage them the same way.
+# Run a shell command, returning its EXIT STATUS.  system() yields the raw wait
+# status, which is the exit code times 256, so it is shifted here: a caller
+# comparing the result against a specific code gets the code it expects, not a
+# multiple of it.
+sub sh {
+    my ($cmd) = @_;
+    say "Running: $cmd" if $VERBOSE;
+    system($cmd);
+    return $? >> 8;
+}
+
+# pod2usage reads the POD of the running program, so each builder keeps its own
+# help text while sharing the way it is printed and the status it exits with.
+sub usage {
+    my (%args) = @_;
+    pod2usage(
+        -verbose => $args{verbose} // 1,
+        -exitval => $args{exitval} // 2,
+        (defined($args{message}) && length($args{message})
+            ? (-message => "$args{message}\n") : ()),
+    );
+}
+
 use constant XCAT_PROBE_HELPERS => qw(
     GlobalDef.pm
     NetworkUtils.pm
diff --git a/builddebs.pl b/builddebs.pl
index 57b952292..83decdb05 100755
--- a/builddebs.pl
+++ b/builddebs.pl
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ use BuildUtils qw(
     pin_control_version rewrite_changelog_header
     reprepro_distributions reprepro_options
     lock_id_for take_build_lock sh_quote
+    sh usage
 );
 
 # The xcat-core packages that ship as debs. xCAT-openbmc-py, xCAT-rmc and xCAT-release
@@ -75,6 +76,8 @@ GetOptions(
 ) or usage();
 usage(exitval => 0, verbose => 2) if $opts{help};
 
+$BuildUtils::VERBOSE = $opts{verbose};
+
 $opts{packages} = @cli_packages ? \@cli_packages : \@PACKAGES;
 $opts{dists}    = @cli_dists    ? \@cli_dists    : \@DISTS;
 $opts{gpg_key_name} //= 'xCAT Signing Key';
@@ -84,21 +87,6 @@ for my $pkg ($opts{packages}->@*) {
         unless grep { $_ eq $pkg } @PACKAGES;
 }
 
-sub usage {
-    my (%args) = @_;
-    pod2usage(
-        -verbose => $args{verbose} // 1,
-        -exitval => $args{exitval} // 2,
-        (defined $args{message} ? (-message => "$args{message}\n") : ()),
-    );
-}
-
-sub sh {
-    my ($cmd) = @_;
-    say "+ $cmd" if $opts{verbose};
-    return system($cmd);
-}
-
 my $ROOT    = abs_path($FindBin::Bin);
 my $VERSION = do { open my $fh, '<', "$ROOT/Version" or die "Cannot read Version: $!\n";
                    my $v = <$fh>; chomp $v; $v };
diff --git a/buildrpms.pl b/buildrpms.pl
index 92d96014d..9057bed41 100755
--- a/buildrpms.pl
+++ b/buildrpms.pl
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ use File::Slurper qw(read_text write_text);
 use File::Temp qw(tempdir tempfile);
 use FindBin qw($Bin);
 use lib $Bin;
-use BuildUtils qw(git_revision source_date_epoch);
+use BuildUtils qw(git_revision source_date_epoch sh usage);
 use Fcntl qw(:flock);           # per-target build lock (concurrency guard; see main())
 use Getopt::Long qw(GetOptions);
 use POSIX qw(strftime);
@@ -189,6 +189,8 @@ GetOptions(
     "source-only" => \$opts{source_only},
 ) or usage();
 
+$BuildUtils::VERBOSE = $opts{verbose};
+
 # --package REPLACES the default set (build exactly what was asked), so
 # `--package xCAT-genesis-base` builds only genesis-base for the dep pipeline.
 # The full default set is built on every arch (x86_64 and ppc64le alike), so each
@@ -231,26 +233,6 @@ if (@cli_targets) {
 my $RELEASE = $opts{release} || strftime("snap%Y%m%d%H%M", gmtime($SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH));
 write_text("Release", "$RELEASE\n");
 
-sub usage {
-    my (%args) = @_;
-    my $verbose = $args{verbose} // 1;
-    my $exitval = $args{exitval} // 2;
-    my $message = $args{message};
-    pod2usage(
-        -verbose => $verbose,
-        -exitval => $exitval,
-        (defined($message) && length($message) ? (-message => "$message\n") : ()),
-    );
-}
-
-sub sh {
-    my ($cmd) = @_;
-    say "Running: $cmd"
-        if $opts{verbose};
-    system($cmd);
-    $? >> 8;
-}
-
 # sh_retry: run $cmd, retrying up to $tries times on non-zero exit. Absorbs transient mock/nspawn
 # flakes (e.g. the systemd-nspawn ENOMEDIUM cgroup race, dnf mirror hiccups) so one bad attempt does
 # not silently drop a package from the core. Returns the last exit code (0 on eventual success).
diff --git a/xCAT-test/unit/build_utils.t b/xCAT-test/unit/build_utils.t
index 00f975308..14697770b 100644
--- a/xCAT-test/unit/build_utils.t
+++ b/xCAT-test/unit/build_utils.t
@@ -308,4 +308,28 @@ is( git_revision( git => sub { "\n" }, read_file => sub { "  \n" } ),
 isnt( git_revision( git => sub { '' }, read_file => sub { '' } ), '',
     'the one thing it must never return is empty' );
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------- sh() --
+# system() returns the raw wait status, which is the exit code times 256. The
+# two builders disagreed about shifting it, so a caller comparing sh() against
+# a specific code got the code from one and a multiple of it from the other.
+{
+    is( BuildUtils::sh('true'), 0, 'a command that succeeds reports 0' );
+    is( BuildUtils::sh('sh -c "exit 3"'), 3,
+        'the exit code is returned, not the wait status it is packed into' );
+    isnt( BuildUtils::sh('sh -c "exit 3"'), 768,
+        'and specifically not the exit code times 256' );
+}
+
+{
+    # --verbose echoes the command; the default does not.
+    local $BuildUtils::VERBOSE = 1;
+    my $out = '';
+    open my $fh, '>', \$out or die;
+    my $old = select $fh;
+    BuildUtils::sh('true');
+    select $old;
+    close $fh;
+    like( $out, qr/\ARunning: true/, 'a verbose run echoes the command' );
+}
+
 done_testing();