Exit status of a command with local variable

I have a command in a function whose output is placed in a local variable. I want to get the exit status of that command, but $? always returns 0. When I use a non-local variable I get the expected exit status.

Here's an example:

function my_fun() {
   local output=$(ls no_file_here_buddy)
   echo $?  # returns 0

   non_local_var=$(ls no_file_here_buddy)
   echo $? # returns 2
}

How do you get the exit status of a command whose output is stored in a local variable?