diff --git a/nvm.sh b/nvm.sh
index 6a58ebf..5dabce7 100755
--- a/nvm.sh
+++ b/nvm.sh
@@ -2526,10 +2526,10 @@ nvm_download_artifact() {
   local CHECKSUM
   CHECKSUM="$(nvm_get_checksum "${FLAVOR}" "${TYPE}" "${VERSION}" "${SLUG}" "${COMPRESSION}")"
 
-  command mkdir -p "${tmpdir}/files" || (
+  command mkdir -p "${tmpdir}/files" || {
     nvm_err "creating directory ${tmpdir}/files failed"
     return 3
-  )
+  }
 
   local TARBALL_URL
   if nvm_version_greater_than_or_equal_to "${VERSION}" 0.1.14; then
@@ -2552,11 +2552,11 @@ nvm_download_artifact() {
     command rm -rf "${TARBALL}"
   fi
   nvm_err "Downloading ${TARBALL_URL}..."
-  nvm_download -L -C - "${PROGRESS_BAR}" "${TARBALL_URL}" -o "${TARBALL}" || (
+  nvm_download -L -C - "${PROGRESS_BAR}" "${TARBALL_URL}" -o "${TARBALL}" || {
     command rm -rf "${TARBALL}" "${tmpdir}"
     nvm_err "download from ${TARBALL_URL} failed"
     return 4
-  )
+  }
 
   if nvm_grep '404 Not Found' "${TARBALL}" >/dev/null; then
     command rm -rf "${TARBALL}" "${tmpdir}"
@@ -2564,10 +2564,10 @@ nvm_download_artifact() {
     return 5
   fi
 
-  nvm_compare_checksum "${TARBALL}" "${CHECKSUM}" || (
+  nvm_compare_checksum "${TARBALL}" "${CHECKSUM}" || {
     command rm -rf "${tmpdir}/files"
     return 6
-  )
+  }
 
   nvm_echo "${TARBALL}"
 }
diff --git a/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm_download_artifact error propagation b/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm_download_artifact error propagation
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..e220ccd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm_download_artifact error propagation	
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+die () { echo "$@" ; exit 1; }
+
+: nvm.sh
+\. ../../../nvm.sh
+
+\. ../../common.sh
+
+# Test that mkdir failure propagates from brace group (not subshell)
+nvm_download_artifact_mkdir_test() {
+  local tmpdir
+  tmpdir="/nonexistent/path/that/cannot/exist"
+  command mkdir -p "${tmpdir}/files" || {
+    return 3
+  }
+}
+nvm_download_artifact_mkdir_test 2>/dev/null
+EXIT_CODE=$?
+[ "${EXIT_CODE}" = "3" ] || die "Expected mkdir failure to propagate with exit code 3, got ${EXIT_CODE}"
+
+# Test that download failure propagates with exit code 4
+nvm_get_mirror() { echo "http://example.com"; }
+nvm_binary_available() { return 0; }
+nvm_get_download_slug() { echo "node-v20.0.0-linux-x64"; }
+nvm_get_artifact_compression() { echo "tar.gz"; }
+nvm_cache_dir() { echo "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nvm_test_cache_$$"; }
+nvm_get_checksum() { echo "fake_checksum"; }
+nvm_version_greater_than_or_equal_to() { return 0; }
+nvm_download() { return 1; }
+nvm_grep() { return 1; }
+
+nvm_download_artifact node binary std v20.0.0 2>/dev/null
+EXIT_CODE=$?
+[ "${EXIT_CODE}" = "4" ] || die "Expected download failure to propagate with exit code 4, got ${EXIT_CODE}"
+
+# clean up any dirs created by the download failure test
+command rm -rf "$(nvm_cache_dir)"
+
+# Test that checksum failure propagates with exit code 6
+nvm_download() {
+  while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
+    if [ "$1" = "-o" ]; then command touch "$2"; return 0; fi
+    shift
+  done
+  return 0
+}
+nvm_compare_checksum() { return 1; }
+
+nvm_download_artifact node binary std v20.0.0 2>/dev/null
+EXIT_CODE=$?
+[ "${EXIT_CODE}" = "6" ] || die "Expected checksum failure to propagate with exit code 6, got ${EXIT_CODE}"
+
+# clean up
+command rm -rf "$(nvm_cache_dir)"