diff --git a/papermill/execute.py b/papermill/execute.py
index eca6fb1b..7bae3fbf 100644
--- a/papermill/execute.py
+++ b/papermill/execute.py
@@ -196,11 +196,13 @@ def raise_for_execution_errors(nb, output_path):
     """
     error = None
     for index, cell in enumerate(nb.cells):
+        has_sys_exit = False
         # check if there is any cell error output
         if "outputs" in cell:
             for output in cell.outputs:
                 if output.output_type == "error":
                     if output.ename == "SystemExit" and (output.evalue == "" or output.evalue == "0"):
+                        has_sys_exit = True
                         continue
                     error = PapermillExecutionError(
                         cell_index=index,
@@ -213,7 +215,7 @@ def raise_for_execution_errors(nb, output_path):
                     break
 
         # handle the CellExecutionError exceptions raised that didn't produce a cell error output
-        if cell.get("metadata", {}).get("papermill", {}).get("exception") == True:
+        if not has_sys_exit and cell.get("metadata", {}).get("papermill", {}).get("exception") is True:
             error = PapermillExecutionError(
                 cell_index=index,
                 exec_count=cell.execution_count,