diff --git a/.ci/lint-cpp.sh b/.ci/lint-cpp.sh
index 879d39f09346..7ba7678115ac 100755
--- a/.ci/lint-cpp.sh
+++ b/.ci/lint-cpp.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ set -e -E -u -o pipefail
 
 echo "running include-what-you-use"
 cmake -B build -S . -DCMAKE_C_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE=include-what-you-use -DCMAKE_CXX_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE=include-what-you-use
-cmake --build build --target _lightgbm -j4 2>&1 | tee ./logs.txt | cat || exit true
+cmake --build build --target _lightgbm -j4 2>&1 | tee ./logs.txt | cat || true
 echo "done running include-what-you-use"
 
 # echo "running cpplint"