diff --git a/acceptance/panic/output.txt b/acceptance/panic/output.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9dca41c23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/acceptance/panic/output.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+
+>>> [CLI] selftest panic
+The Databricks CLI unexpectedly had a fatal error.
+Please report this issue to Databricks in the form of a GitHub issue at:
+https://github.com/databricks/cli
+
+CLI Version: [DEV_VERSION]
+
+Panic Payload: the databricks selftest panic command always panics
+
+Stack Trace:
+goroutine 1 [running]:
+runtime/debug.Stack()
+
+Exit code: 1
diff --git a/acceptance/panic/script b/acceptance/panic/script
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a02466923
--- /dev/null
+++ b/acceptance/panic/script
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# We filter anything after runtime/debug.Stack() in the output because the stack
+# trace itself is hard to perform replacements on, since it can depend upon the
+# exact setup of where the modules are installed in your Go setup, memory addresses
+# at runtime etc.
+trace $CLI selftest panic 2>&1 | sed '/runtime\/debug\.Stack()/q'
diff --git a/acceptance/panic/test.toml b/acceptance/panic/test.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/cmd/cmd.go b/cmd/cmd.go
index 5d835409f..4f5337fd3 100644
--- a/cmd/cmd.go
+++ b/cmd/cmd.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/cmd/fs"
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/cmd/labs"
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/cmd/root"
+	"github.com/databricks/cli/cmd/selftest"
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/cmd/sync"
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/cmd/version"
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/cmd/workspace"
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ func New(ctx context.Context) *cobra.Command {
 	cli.AddCommand(labs.New(ctx))
 	cli.AddCommand(sync.New())
 	cli.AddCommand(version.New())
+	cli.AddCommand(selftest.New())
 
 	return cli
 }
diff --git a/cmd/root/root.go b/cmd/root/root.go
index d7adf47f4..04815f48b 100644
--- a/cmd/root/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root/root.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
 	"os"
+	"runtime/debug"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/databricks/cli/internal/build"
@@ -96,11 +97,35 @@ func flagErrorFunc(c *cobra.Command, err error) error {
 
 // Execute adds all child commands to the root command and sets flags appropriately.
 // This is called by main.main(). It only needs to happen once to the rootCmd.
-func Execute(ctx context.Context, cmd *cobra.Command) error {
-	// TODO: deferred panic recovery
+func Execute(ctx context.Context, cmd *cobra.Command) (err error) {
+	defer func() {
+		r := recover()
+
+		// No panic. Return normally.
+		if r == nil {
+			return
+		}
+
+		version := build.GetInfo().Version
+		trace := debug.Stack()
+
+		// Set the error so that the CLI exits with a non-zero exit code.
+		err = fmt.Errorf("panic: %v", r)
+
+		fmt.Fprintf(cmd.ErrOrStderr(), `The Databricks CLI unexpectedly had a fatal error.
+Please report this issue to Databricks in the form of a GitHub issue at:
+https://github.com/databricks/cli
+
+CLI Version: %s
+
+Panic Payload: %v
+
+Stack Trace:
+%s`, version, r, string(trace))
+	}()
 
 	// Run the command
-	cmd, err := cmd.ExecuteContextC(ctx)
+	cmd, err = cmd.ExecuteContextC(ctx)
 	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, ErrAlreadyPrinted) {
 		// If cmdio logger initialization succeeds, then this function logs with the
 		// initialized cmdio logger, otherwise with the default cmdio logger
diff --git a/cmd/selftest/panic.go b/cmd/selftest/panic.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..58d8b24e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/selftest/panic.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+package selftest
+
+import "github.com/spf13/cobra"
+
+func newPanic() *cobra.Command {
+	return &cobra.Command{
+		Use: "panic",
+		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+			panic("the databricks selftest panic command always panics")
+		},
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/selftest/selftest.go b/cmd/selftest/selftest.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7d8cfcb76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/selftest/selftest.go
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package selftest
+
+import (
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+func New() *cobra.Command {
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:    "selftest",
+		Short:  "Non functional CLI commands that are useful for testing",
+		Hidden: true,
+	}
+
+	cmd.AddCommand(newPanic())
+	return cmd
+}