diff --git a/src/main_utils.cpp b/src/main_utils.cpp
index 9228b78328f34a9a1ae240189c3b2747762f7ea3..e75cfd08921d78d23c5dd3d9712e14d44289f2d2 100644
--- a/src/main_utils.cpp
+++ b/src/main_utils.cpp
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ cout<<"	           non-considered reads are  written into output file(s) with"<<
 cout<<"	           extension undefined.fastq (default: 1)"<<endl;
 cout<<" -v         verbose mode"<<endl;
 cout<<" -h         prints this message and exit"<<endl;
+exit(status);
 }
 
 /*