diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/tools/ConsumerPerformance.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/tools/ConsumerPerformance.scala
index d2cd20d42f059..a329b4aae55c2 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/tools/ConsumerPerformance.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/tools/ConsumerPerformance.scala
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong
 import java.util.{Properties, Random}
 
 import com.typesafe.scalalogging.LazyLogging
+import joptsimple.OptionException
 import kafka.utils.{CommandLineUtils, ToolsUtils}
 import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.{ConsumerRebalanceListener, KafkaConsumer}
 import org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.ByteArrayDeserializer
@@ -255,7 +256,12 @@ object ConsumerPerformance extends LazyLogging {
       .ofType(classOf[Long])
       .defaultsTo(10000)
 
-    options = parser.parse(args: _*)
+    try
+      options = parser.parse(args: _*)
+    catch {
+      case e: OptionException =>
+        CommandLineUtils.printUsageAndDie(parser, e.getMessage)
+    }
 
     if(options.has(numThreadsOpt) || options.has(numFetchersOpt))
       println("WARNING: option [threads] and [num-fetch-threads] have been deprecated and will be ignored by the test")
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/tools/ConsumerPerformanceTest.scala b/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/tools/ConsumerPerformanceTest.scala
index 530d191a42e1e..94b732d2fd57d 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/tools/ConsumerPerformanceTest.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/unit/kafka/tools/ConsumerPerformanceTest.scala
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ package kafka.tools
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream
 import java.text.SimpleDateFormat
 
-import joptsimple.OptionException
+import kafka.utils.Exit
 import org.junit.Assert.assertEquals
 import org.junit.Test
 
@@ -97,8 +97,9 @@ class ConsumerPerformanceTest {
     assertEquals(10, config.numMessages)
   }
 
-  @Test(expected = classOf[OptionException])
+  @Test(expected = classOf[IllegalArgumentException])
   def testConfigWithUnrecognizedOption(): Unit = {
+    Exit.setExitProcedure((_, message) => throw new IllegalArgumentException(message.orNull))
     //Given
     val args: Array[String] = Array(
       "--broker-list", "localhost:9092",
@@ -106,9 +107,12 @@ class ConsumerPerformanceTest {
       "--messages", "10",
       "--new-consumer"
     )
-
-    //When
-    new ConsumerPerformance.ConsumerPerfConfig(args)
+    try {
+      //When
+      new ConsumerPerformance.ConsumerPerfConfig(args)
+    } finally {
+      Exit.resetExitProcedure()
+    }
   }
 
   private def testHeaderMatchContent(detailed: Boolean, expectedOutputLineCount: Int, fun: () => Unit): Unit = {