diff --git a/src/blupi.cxx b/src/blupi.cxx
index 478d368..7ea1505 100644
--- a/src/blupi.cxx
+++ b/src/blupi.cxx
@@ -601,6 +601,7 @@ parseArgs (int argc, char * argv[], bool & exit)
   catch (const std::exception & e)
   {
     std::cerr << e.what () << std::endl;
+    exit = true;
     return EXIT_FAILURE;
   }