diff --git a/apps/esmtool/esmtool.cpp b/apps/esmtool/esmtool.cpp
index 8e0900ba0..57e9f59cc 100644
--- a/apps/esmtool/esmtool.cpp
+++ b/apps/esmtool/esmtool.cpp
@@ -108,11 +108,21 @@ bool parseOptions (int argc, char** argv, Arguments &info)
     // there might be a better way to do this
     bpo::options_description all;
     all.add(desc).add(hidden);
-    bpo::parsed_options valid_opts = bpo::command_line_parser(argc, argv)
-        .options(all).positional(p).run();
-
     bpo::variables_map variables;
-    bpo::store(valid_opts, variables);
+
+    try
+    {
+        bpo::parsed_options valid_opts = bpo::command_line_parser(argc, argv)
+            .options(all).positional(p).run();
+
+        bpo::store(valid_opts, variables);
+    }
+    catch(boost::program_options::unknown_option & x)
+    {
+        std::cerr << "ERROR: " << x.what() << std::endl;
+        return false;
+    }
+
     bpo::notify(variables);
 
     if (variables.count ("help"))
diff --git a/apps/mwiniimporter/main.cpp b/apps/mwiniimporter/main.cpp
index 510b0c4a0..9aff898b9 100644
--- a/apps/mwiniimporter/main.cpp
+++ b/apps/mwiniimporter/main.cpp
@@ -28,12 +28,23 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
     p_desc.add("ini", 1).add("cfg", 1);
 
     bpo::variables_map vm;
-    bpo::parsed_options parsed = bpo::command_line_parser(argc, argv)
-        .options(desc)
-        .positional(p_desc)
-        .run();
     
-    bpo::store(parsed, vm);
+    try
+    {
+        bpo::parsed_options parsed = bpo::command_line_parser(argc, argv)
+            .options(desc)
+            .positional(p_desc)
+            .run();
+
+        bpo::store(parsed, vm);
+    }
+    catch(boost::program_options::unknown_option & x)
+    {
+        std::cerr << "ERROR: " << x.what() << std::endl;
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    
 
     if(vm.count("help") || !vm.count("ini") || !vm.count("cfg")) {
         std::cout << desc;