diff --git a/src/libs/utils/deviceshell.cpp b/src/libs/utils/deviceshell.cpp
index 283e9789c00..18e816d38b2 100644
--- a/src/libs/utils/deviceshell.cpp
+++ b/src/libs/utils/deviceshell.cpp
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ DeviceShell::~DeviceShell()
  */
 RunResult DeviceShell::runInShell(const CommandLine &cmd, const QByteArray &stdInData)
 {
-    QTC_ASSERT(m_shellProcess, return {});
     Q_ASSERT(QThread::currentThread() != &m_thread);
 
     return run(cmd, stdInData);
@@ -75,7 +74,7 @@ QStringList DeviceShell::missingFeatures() const { return m_missingFeatures; }
 RunResult DeviceShell::run(const CommandLine &cmd, const QByteArray &stdInData)
 {
     // If the script failed to install, use QtcProcess directly instead.
-    bool useProcess = m_shellScriptState == State::NoScript;
+    bool useProcess = m_shellScriptState == State::Failed;
 
     // Transferring large amounts of stdInData is slow via the shell script.
     // Use QtcProcess directly if the size exceeds 100kb.
@@ -197,10 +196,7 @@ bool DeviceShell::start()
                 return false;
             }
 
-            if (!installShellScript()) {
-                if (m_shellScriptState == State::FailedToStart)
-                    closeShellProcess();
-            } else {
+            if (installShellScript()) {
                 connect(m_shellProcess.get(),
                         &QtcProcess::readyReadStandardOutput,
                         m_shellProcess.get(),
@@ -213,6 +209,10 @@ bool DeviceShell::start()
                             qCWarning(deviceShellLog)
                                 << "Received unexpected output on stderr:" << stdErr;
                         });
+            } else if (m_shellProcess->isRunning()) {
+                m_shellProcess->kill();
+                m_shellProcess.reset();
+                return false;
             }
 
             connect(m_shellProcess.get(), &QtcProcess::done, m_shellProcess.get(), [this] {
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ bool DeviceShell::checkCommand(const QByteArray &command)
     }
     QByteArray out = m_shellProcess->readAllRawStandardOutput();
     if (out.contains("<missing>")) {
-        m_shellScriptState = State::NoScript;
+        m_shellScriptState = State::Failed;
         qCWarning(deviceShellLog) << "Command" << command << "was not found";
         m_missingFeatures.append(QString::fromUtf8(command));
         return false;
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ bool DeviceShell::checkCommand(const QByteArray &command)
 bool DeviceShell::installShellScript()
 {
     if (m_forceFailScriptInstallation) {
-        m_shellScriptState = State::NoScript;
+        m_shellScriptState = State::Failed;
         return false;
     }
 
@@ -290,15 +290,19 @@ bool DeviceShell::installShellScript()
         }
 
         QByteArray out = m_shellProcess->readAllRawStandardError();
-        if (out.contains("SCRIPT_INSTALLED")) {
+        if (out.contains("SCRIPT_INSTALLED") && !out.contains("ERROR_INSTALL_SCRIPT")) {
             m_shellScriptState = State::Succeeded;
             return true;
         }
         if (out.contains("ERROR_INSTALL_SCRIPT")) {
-            m_shellScriptState = State::NoScript;
+            m_shellScriptState = State::Failed;
             qCWarning(deviceShellLog) << "Failed installing device shell script";
             return false;
         }
+        if (!out.isEmpty()) {
+            qCWarning(deviceShellLog)
+                << "Unexpected output while installing device shell script:" << out;
+        }
     }
 
     return true;
diff --git a/src/libs/utils/deviceshell.h b/src/libs/utils/deviceshell.h
index 713f9f09e2e..83af1db365e 100644
--- a/src/libs/utils/deviceshell.h
+++ b/src/libs/utils/deviceshell.h
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class QTCREATOR_UTILS_EXPORT DeviceShell : public QObject
     Q_OBJECT
 
 public:
-    enum class State { FailedToStart = -1, Unknown = 0, Succeeded = 1, NoScript = 2 };
+    enum class State { Failed = -1, Unknown = 0, Succeeded = 1 };
 
     enum class ParseType {
         StdOut,
diff --git a/src/libs/utils/scripts/deviceshell.sh b/src/libs/utils/scripts/deviceshell.sh
index 7281d550171..6ed7014d79a 100644
--- a/src/libs/utils/scripts/deviceshell.sh
+++ b/src/libs/utils/scripts/deviceshell.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # Copyright (C) 2022 The Qt Company Ltd.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Qt-Commercial OR GPL-3.0-only WITH Qt-GPL-exception-1.0
-FINAL_OUT=$(mktemp -u)
-mkfifo "$FINAL_OUT"
+FINAL_OUT=$(mktemp -u) || exit 2
+mkfifo "$FINAL_OUT" || exit 3
 
 finalOutput() {
     local fileInputBuffer
diff --git a/src/plugins/remotelinux/linuxdevice.cpp b/src/plugins/remotelinux/linuxdevice.cpp
index 781147a1e2e..5d0d2d6b92e 100644
--- a/src/plugins/remotelinux/linuxdevice.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/remotelinux/linuxdevice.cpp
@@ -222,7 +222,9 @@ void SshSharedConnection::emitConnected()
 void SshSharedConnection::emitError(QProcess::ProcessError error, const QString &errorString)
 {
     m_state = QProcess::NotRunning;
-    ProcessResultData resultData = m_masterProcess->resultData();
+    ProcessResultData resultData{-1, QProcess::CrashExit, QProcess::UnknownError, {}};
+    if (m_masterProcess)
+        resultData = m_masterProcess->resultData();
     resultData.m_error = error;
     resultData.m_errorString = errorString;
     emit disconnected(resultData);
diff --git a/tests/auto/utils/deviceshell/tst_deviceshell.cpp b/tests/auto/utils/deviceshell/tst_deviceshell.cpp
index d767d5a4799..6080f99bf7c 100644
--- a/tests/auto/utils/deviceshell/tst_deviceshell.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/utils/deviceshell/tst_deviceshell.cpp
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ private slots:
         QFETCH(CommandLine, cmdLine);
 
         TestShell shell(cmdLine, true);
-        QCOMPARE(shell.state(), DeviceShell::State::NoScript);
+        QCOMPARE(shell.state(), DeviceShell::State::Failed);
 
         const RunResult result = shell.runInShell({"echo", {"Hello"}});
         QCOMPARE(result.exitCode, 0);