diff --git a/compctl.c b/compctl.c
index 82c3191486e556851198f4f99f634b6f15804c4f..9151ea5460705c8a133f2ed8d681e7dc1079f01c 100644
--- a/compctl.c
+++ b/compctl.c
@@ -233,6 +233,10 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 		} else if (!strcmp(cmd, "--help")) {
 			help(stdout);
+
+		} else {
+			help(stderr);
+			return EXIT_FAILURE;
 		}
 	}