diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 89a2a1731d8316de7a6cdaff5800d45c4075161f..88f4177529585ed6c016ce353458af6e7337af5b 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -6705,7 +6705,7 @@ void help(void)
 #endif
            DEFAULT_GDBSTUB_PORT,
            "/tmp/qemu.log");
-    exit(1);
+    exit(strcmp(optarg, "?"));
 }
 
 #define HAS_ARG 0x0001