diff --git a/apply.c b/apply.c
index d1ca6addebd4e8625116f3c618bb246b9e778b21..c4c9f849b1bae6b4c29d01ac1162a0b47ba3cb9b 100644
--- a/apply.c
+++ b/apply.c
@@ -4812,7 +4812,7 @@ static int apply_option_parse_whitespace(const struct option *opt,
 	struct apply_state *state = opt->value;
 	state->whitespace_option = arg;
 	if (parse_whitespace_option(state, arg))
-		exit(1);
+		return -1;
 	return 0;
 }