diff --git a/bitbake/bin/bitbake b/bitbake/bin/bitbake
index af915075dc..3e1ca6286c 100755
--- a/bitbake/bin/bitbake
+++ b/bitbake/bin/bitbake
@@ -33,12 +33,15 @@ except RuntimeError as exc:
     sys.exit(str(exc))
 
 from bb import cookerdata
-from bb.main import bitbake_main, BitBakeConfigParameters
+from bb.main import bitbake_main, BitBakeConfigParameters, BBMainException
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     try:
         ret = bitbake_main(BitBakeConfigParameters(sys.argv),
                            cookerdata.CookerConfiguration())
+    except BBMainException as err:
+        print >>sys.stderr, err
+        ret = 1
     except bb.BBHandledException:
         ret = 1
     except Exception:
diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/main.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/main.py
index af067f7379..2019d5014b 100755
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/main.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/main.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ from bb import cookerdata
 __version__ = "1.27.0"
 logger = logging.getLogger("BitBake")
 
-class BBMainException(bb.BBHandledException):
+class BBMainException(Exception):
     pass
 
 def get_ui(config):