diff --git a/tools/test/audio/comp_run.sh b/tools/test/audio/comp_run.sh
index c7e8a24ee05e..7e7dd8d5f846 100755
--- a/tools/test/audio/comp_run.sh
+++ b/tools/test/audio/comp_run.sh
@@ -116,8 +116,14 @@ run_testbench ()
         # shellcheck disable=SC2086
         $VALGRIND_CMD $CMD
     else
-        # shellcheck disable=SC2086
-        $VALGRIND_CMD $CMD 2> "$FN_TRACE"
+        $VALGRIND_CMD $CMD 2> "$FN_TRACE" || {
+            local ret=$?
+            echo ----------------------------------------------------------
+            cat "$FN_TRACE"
+            echo ----------------------------------------------------------
+            return $ret # "exit" would be for something unexpected and catastrophic,
+                        # not for a "regular" test failure
+        }
     fi
 }
 
diff --git a/tools/test/audio/process_test.m b/tools/test/audio/process_test.m
index 63b5a1b3faeb..30eab832dde5 100644
--- a/tools/test/audio/process_test.m
+++ b/tools/test/audio/process_test.m
@@ -411,12 +411,13 @@
 	test.fr_rp_max_db = 0.5;        % Allow 0.5 dB frequency response ripple
 
 	% No need to collect trace
-	test.trace = '';
+	test.trace = [tempname('/tmp') '.txt'];
 end
 
 function test = test_run_process(test)
 	delete_check(1, test.fn_out);
 	test = test_run(test);
+	delete_check(1, test.trace);
 end
 
 function test_result_print(t, testverbose, testacronym, test)