diff --git a/spec/std/process/exit_reason_spec.cr b/spec/std/process/exit_reason_spec.cr
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3a55ea4172d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/std/process/exit_reason_spec.cr
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+require "spec"
+
+describe Process::ExitReason do
+  describe "#description" do
+    it "with exit status" do
+      Process::ExitReason::Normal.description.should eq "Process exited normally"
+      Process::ExitReason::Unknown.description.should eq "Process terminated abnormally, the cause is unknown"
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/std/process/status_spec.cr b/spec/std/process/status_spec.cr
index 6cbabbea5d73..67e53e172d81 100644
--- a/spec/std/process/status_spec.cr
+++ b/spec/std/process/status_spec.cr
@@ -329,4 +329,28 @@ describe Process::Status do
       end
     {% end %}
   end
+
+  describe "#description" do
+    it "with exit status" do
+      Process::Status.new(exit_status(0)).description.should eq "Process exited normally"
+      Process::Status.new(exit_status(255)).description.should eq "Process exited normally"
+    end
+
+    it "on interrupt" do
+      status_for(:interrupted).description.should eq "Process was interrupted"
+    end
+
+    {% if flag?(:unix) && !flag?(:wasi) %}
+      it "with exit signal" do
+        Process::Status.new(Signal::HUP.value).description.should eq "Process terminated abnormally"
+        Process::Status.new(Signal::KILL.value).description.should eq "Process terminated abnormally"
+        Process::Status.new(Signal::STOP.value).description.should eq "Process received and didn't handle signal STOP"
+        last_signal = Signal.values[-1]
+        Process::Status.new(last_signal.value).description.should eq "Process received and didn't handle signal #{last_signal}"
+
+        unknown_signal = Signal.new(126)
+        Process::Status.new(unknown_signal.value).description.should eq "Process received and didn't handle signal 126"
+      end
+    {% end %}
+  end
 end
diff --git a/src/compiler/crystal/command.cr b/src/compiler/crystal/command.cr
index cc6f39657f64..a5310f3703b3 100644
--- a/src/compiler/crystal/command.cr
+++ b/src/compiler/crystal/command.cr
@@ -305,42 +305,14 @@ class Crystal::Command
       exit exit_code
     end
 
-    if message = exit_message(status)
-      STDERR.puts message
+    unless status.exit_reason.normal?
+      STDERR.puts status.description
       STDERR.flush
     end
 
     exit 1
   end
 
-  private def exit_message(status)
-    case status.exit_reason
-    when .aborted?, .session_ended?, .terminal_disconnected?
-      if signal = status.exit_signal?
-        if signal.kill?
-          "Program was killed"
-        else
-          "Program received and didn't handle signal #{signal} (#{signal.value})"
-        end
-      else
-        "Program exited abnormally"
-      end
-    when .breakpoint?
-      "Program hit a breakpoint and no debugger was attached"
-    when .access_violation?, .bad_memory_access?
-      # NOTE: this only happens with the empty prelude, because the stdlib
-      # runtime catches those exceptions and then exits _normally_ with exit
-      # code 11 or 1
-      "Program exited because of an invalid memory access"
-    when .bad_instruction?
-      "Program exited because of an invalid instruction"
-    when .float_exception?
-      "Program exited because of a floating-point system exception"
-    when .unknown?
-      "Program exited abnormally, the cause is unknown"
-    end
-  end
-
   record CompilerConfig,
     compiler : Compiler,
     sources : Array(Compiler::Source),
diff --git a/src/process/status.cr b/src/process/status.cr
index 78cff49f0dc9..b3c04aa3f50a 100644
--- a/src/process/status.cr
+++ b/src/process/status.cr
@@ -98,6 +98,37 @@ enum Process::ExitReason
   def abnormal?
     !normal?
   end
+
+  # Returns a textual description of this exit reason.
+  #
+  # ```
+  # Process::ExitReason::Normal.description  # => "Process exited normally"
+  # Process::ExitReason::Aborted.description # => "Process terminated abnormally"
+  # ```
+  #
+  # `Status#description` provides more detail for a specific process status.
+  def description
+    case self
+    in .normal?
+      "Process exited normally"
+    in .aborted?, .session_ended?, .terminal_disconnected?
+      "Process terminated abnormally"
+    in .interrupted?
+      "Process was interrupted"
+    in .breakpoint?
+      "Process hit a breakpoint and no debugger was attached"
+    in .access_violation?, .bad_memory_access?
+      "Process terminated because of an invalid memory access"
+    in .bad_instruction?
+      "Process terminated because of an invalid instruction"
+    in .float_exception?
+      "Process terminated because of a floating-point system exception"
+    in .signal?
+      "Process terminated because of an unhandled signal"
+    in .unknown?
+      "Process terminated abnormally, the cause is unknown"
+    end
+  end
 end
 
 # The status of a terminated process. Returned by `Process#wait`.
@@ -371,6 +402,25 @@ class Process::Status
     {% end %}
   end
 
+  # Returns a textual description of this process status.
+  #
+  # ```
+  # Process::Status.new(0).description # => "Process exited normally"
+  # process = Process.new("sleep", ["10"])
+  # process.terminate
+  # process.wait.description
+  # # => "Process received and didn't handle signal TERM (15)"
+  # ```
+  #
+  # `ExitReason#description` provides the specific messages for non-signal exits.
+  def description
+    if exit_reason.signal? && (signal = exit_signal?)
+      "Process received and didn't handle signal #{signal}"
+    else
+      exit_reason.description
+    end
+  end
+
   private def stringify_exit_status_windows(io)
     # On Windows large status codes are typically expressed in hexadecimal
     if @exit_status >= UInt16::MAX