diff --git a/.github/workflows/zsh-n.yml b/.github/workflows/zsh-n.yml
index 3aa32b4..34b59e7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/zsh-n.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/zsh-n.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ on:
       - "tests/archive-extraction.zsh"
       - "tests/completion-refresh.zsh"
       - "tests/hook-ownership.zsh"
+      - "tests/load-object-status.zsh"
       - "tests/message-formatting.zsh"
       - "tests/path-resolution.zsh"
       - "tests/parallel-update.zsh"
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ on:
       - "tests/archive-extraction.zsh"
       - "tests/completion-refresh.zsh"
       - "tests/hook-ownership.zsh"
+      - "tests/load-object-status.zsh"
       - "tests/message-formatting.zsh"
       - "tests/path-resolution.zsh"
       - "tests/parallel-update.zsh"
@@ -147,6 +149,17 @@ jobs:
         run: sudo apt update && sudo apt-get install -yq zsh
       - name: Test autoload ice forms
         run: zsh -f tests/plugin-autoload-ice.zsh
+  load-object-status:
+    name: Load Object Status
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Check out code
+        uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
+      - name: Install Zsh
+        run: sudo apt update && sudo apt-get install -yq zsh
+      - name: Test load object status
+        run: zsh -f tests/load-object-status.zsh
+
   nested-load-state:
     name: Nested Load State
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/tests/load-object-status.zsh b/tests/load-object-status.zsh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..61e0a4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/load-object-status.zsh
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env zsh
+# -*- mode: zsh; sh-indentation: 2; indent-tabs-mode: nil; sh-basic-offset: 2; -*-
+# vim: ft=zsh sw=2 ts=2 et
+
+builtin emulate -R zsh
+setopt pipe_fail
+
+fail() {
+  builtin print -u2 -r -- "not ok - $1"
+  exit 1
+}
+
+typeset project_root="${ZI_TEST_CHECKOUT:-${0:A:h:h}}"
+typeset temp_root
+temp_root="$(command mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/zi-load-object-test.XXXXXXXX")" ||
+  fail "create temporary directory"
+trap 'command rm -rf -- "$temp_root"' EXIT INT TERM
+
+command mkdir -p \
+  "${temp_root}/home" \
+  "${temp_root}/cache" \
+  "${temp_root}/config" \
+  "${temp_root}/data" \
+  "${temp_root}/zdotdir" || fail "create isolated environment"
+
+# .zi-load-object is a thin dispatcher over .zi-load and .zi-load-snippet. Stub
+# both so the status it reports is unambiguously the one it was given, with no
+# dependency on a real plug-in, the network, or the filesystem.
+env \
+  HOME="${temp_root}/home" \
+  XDG_CACHE_HOME="${temp_root}/cache" \
+  XDG_CONFIG_HOME="${temp_root}/config" \
+  XDG_DATA_HOME="${temp_root}/data" \
+  ZDOTDIR="${temp_root}/zdotdir" \
+  ZI_TEST_CHECKOUT="$project_root" \
+  zsh -f <<'ZSH' || fail ".zi-load-object does not report the status of the load it performed"
+builtin emulate -R zsh
+setopt pipe_fail
+
+builtin source "${ZI_TEST_CHECKOUT}/zi.zsh" || return 1
+.zi-prepare-home || return 1
+
+integer stub_status=0
+.zi-load()         { return $stub_status; }
+.zi-load-snippet() { return $stub_status; }
+
+check() {  # check <label> <type> <stubbed status> <expected status>
+  local label="$1" type="$2"
+  stub_status=$3
+  local -i expected=$4 actual
+  .zi-load-object "$type" some-id
+  actual=$?
+  [[ $actual -eq $expected ]] || {
+    builtin print -u2 -r -- "${label}: expected ${expected}, got ${actual}"
+    return 1
+  }
+}
+
+check "plugin success"  plugin  0 0 || return 1
+check "snippet success" snippet 0 0 || return 1
+# The failure paths are the point. Before this was fixed the helper returned the
+# undefined `__retval', which zsh evaluates arithmetically as 0, so every load
+# reported success and turbo scheduling proceeded after a failed immediate load.
+check "plugin failure"  plugin  7 7 || return 1
+check "snippet failure" snippet 5 5 || return 1
+
+# The caller adds the reported status to its own accumulator exactly once. The
+# helper must not also add to a dynamically scoped ___retval, which would
+# double-count every failure.
+() {
+  integer ___retval=0
+  stub_status=3
+  .zi-load-object plugin some-id
+  integer reported=$?
+  [[ $reported -eq 3 ]] || {
+    builtin print -u2 -r -- "aggregation: expected a reported status of 3, got ${reported}"
+    return 1
+  }
+  (( ___retval == 0 )) || {
+    builtin print -u2 -r -- "aggregation: the helper modified the caller's \$___retval to ${___retval}"
+    return 1
+  }
+} || return 1
+ZSH
+
+builtin print -r -- "ok - .zi-load-object reports its own load status and leaves aggregation to the caller"
diff --git a/zi.zsh b/zi.zsh
index 7f7ae42..ea35881 100644
--- a/zi.zsh
+++ b/zi.zsh
@@ -1406,13 +1406,18 @@ builtin setopt no_aliases
   local ___type="$1" ___id=$2
   local -a ___opt
   ___opt=( ${@[3,-1]} )
+  integer ___object_retval=0
   if [[ $___type == snippet ]] {
     .zi-load-snippet $___opt "$___id"
   } elif [[ $___type == plugin ]] {
     .zi-load "$___id" "" $___opt
   }
-  ___retval+=$?
-  return __retval
+  ___object_retval=$?
+  # Report only this load's status. The sole caller owns aggregation: it stores
+  # the value in ___last_retval, adds it to ___retval once, and gates turbo
+  # scheduling on it. Adding to the caller's ___retval here as well would
+  # double-count every failure.
+  return ___object_retval
 } # ]]]
 # FUNCTION:.zi-set-m-func() [[[
 # Sets and withdraws the temporary, atclone/atpull time function `m`.