diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 0dae44cd602bc866e0c21588239e47db3edd56ba..586aa9a70a67e8c419e37ebf5240491dc945aebb 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -1293,6 +1293,9 @@ static void numa_add(const char *optarg)
             bitmap_set(node_cpumask[nodenr], value, endvalue-value+1);
         }
         nb_numa_nodes++;
+    } else {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Invalid -numa option: %s\n", option);
+        exit(1);
     }
 }