diff --git a/src/bin/client-demo.rs b/src/bin/client-demo.rs
index 0829c15e2f3a2e..a58f6a7ae71963 100644
--- a/src/bin/client-demo.rs
+++ b/src/bin/client-demo.rs
@@ -10,8 +10,9 @@ use solana::mint::Mint;
 use solana::signature::{KeyPair, KeyPairUtil};
 use solana::transaction::Transaction;
 use std::env;
-use std::io::stdin;
+use std::io::{stderr, stdin, Write};
 use std::net::UdpSocket;
+use std::process::exit;
 use std::thread::sleep;
 use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
 
@@ -27,7 +28,10 @@ fn main() {
     let args: Vec<String> = env::args().collect();
     let matches = match opts.parse(&args[1..]) {
         Ok(m) => m,
-        Err(f) => panic!(f.to_string()),
+        Err(e) => {
+            writeln!(stderr(), "{}", e).unwrap();
+            exit(1);
+        }
     };
 
     if matches.opt_present("s") {
diff --git a/src/bin/testnode.rs b/src/bin/testnode.rs
index 3e0ac842664e0c..c6b1b6d8927d90 100644
--- a/src/bin/testnode.rs
+++ b/src/bin/testnode.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ use solana::entry::Entry;
 use solana::event::Event;
 use solana::historian::Historian;
 use std::env;
-use std::io::{self, stdout, BufRead};
+use std::io::{self, stderr, stdout, BufRead, Write};
+use std::process::exit;
 use std::sync::atomic::AtomicBool;
 use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
 
@@ -22,7 +23,10 @@ fn main() {
     let args: Vec<String> = env::args().collect();
     let matches = match opts.parse(&args[1..]) {
         Ok(m) => m,
-        Err(f) => panic!(f.to_string()),
+        Err(e) => {
+            writeln!(stderr(), "{}", e).unwrap();
+            exit(1);
+        }
     };
     if matches.opt_present("p") {
         port = matches.opt_str("p").unwrap().parse().expect("port");