diff --git a/builtin/merge.c b/builtin/merge.c
index 3e2daa37c367560450217cfae5cbb717bfb508af..2ebe732896c1b3bfd920941b5182b793468c0afe 100644
--- a/builtin/merge.c
+++ b/builtin/merge.c
@@ -1054,7 +1054,8 @@ static struct commit_list *collect_parents(struct commit *head_commit,
 	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
 		struct commit *commit = get_merge_parent(argv[i]);
 		if (!commit)
-			die(_("%s - not something we can merge"), argv[i]);
+			help_unknown_ref(argv[i], "merge",
+					 "not something we can merge");
 		remotes = &commit_list_insert(commit, remotes)->next;
 	}
 	*remotes = NULL;