$ perl -E' open(my $fh, "|-", "perl", "-e", "exit 123") or die $!; close($fh); die("$!\n") if $? == -1; die("Signal ".( $? & 0x7F )."\n") if $? & 0x7F; die("Error ".( $? >> 8 )."\n") if $? >> 8; say "ok"; ' Error 123