diff --git a/nselib/brute.lua b/nselib/brute.lua
index b39bc258c..e2b56435f 100644
--- a/nselib/brute.lua
+++ b/nselib/brute.lua
@@ -479,6 +479,7 @@ Engine =
 			else
 				if ( response and response:isAbort() ) then
 					Engine.terminate_all = true
+					self.error = response:getMessage()
 					break
 				elseif( response and response:isThreadDone() ) then
 					break