diff --git a/src/babashka/cli.clj b/src/babashka/cli.clj
index 7bc3cdd0..9109931b 100644
--- a/src/babashka/cli.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/cli.clj
@@ -5,8 +5,12 @@
 
 (declare resolve-task)
 
+(defn error [msg exit]
+  (binding [*out* *err*]
+    (println msg)
+    {:exit-code exit}))
+
 (defn parse-opts [options]
-  (prn :options options)
   (let [opts (loop [options options
                     opts-map {}]
                (if options
@@ -129,7 +133,7 @@
                                     :command-line-args (next options))
                              (if (str/starts-with? opt ":")
                                (resolve-task opt {:command-line-args (next options)})
-                               (throw (Exception. (str "File does not exist: " opt))))))))))
+                               (error (str "File does not exist: " opt) 1))))))))
                  opts-map))]
     opts))
 
@@ -142,5 +146,5 @@
           (let [cmd-line-args (get task :babashka/args)]
             ;; this is for invoking babashka itself with command-line-args
             (parse-opts (seq (concat cmd-line-args command-line-args))))
-          (throw (Exception. (str "No such task: " task)))))
-      (throw (Exception. (str "File does not exist: " task))))))
+          (error (str "No such task: " task) 1)))
+      (error (str "File does not exist: " task) 1))))
diff --git a/src/babashka/main.clj b/src/babashka/main.clj
index ae4f36be..e3698e90 100644
--- a/src/babashka/main.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/main.clj
@@ -371,7 +371,8 @@ Use -- to separate script command line args from bb command line args.
                     :repl :socket-repl :nrepl
                     :verbose? :classpath
                     :main :uberscript :describe?
-                    :jar :uberjar :clojure :task] :as opts}
+                    :jar :uberjar :clojure :task
+                    :exit-code] :as opts}
             (cli/parse-opts args)
             _ (when clojure
                 (if-let [proc (deps/clojure (:opts opts))]
@@ -457,15 +458,16 @@ Use -- to separate script command line args from bb command line args.
             _ (vreset! common/ctx sci-ctx)
             preloads (some-> (System/getenv "BABASHKA_PRELOADS") (str/trim))
             [expressions exit-code]
-            (cond expressions [expressions nil]
-                  main [[(format "(ns user (:require [%1$s])) (apply %1$s/-main *command-line-args*)"
-                                 main)] nil]
-                  file (try [[(read-file file)] nil]
-                            (catch Exception e
-                              (error-handler e {:expression expressions
-                                                :verbose? verbose?
-                                                :preloads preloads
-                                                :loader (:loader @cp/cp-state)}))))
+            (if exit-code [nil exit-code]
+                (cond expressions [expressions nil]
+                      main [[(format "(ns user (:require [%1$s])) (apply %1$s/-main *command-line-args*)"
+                                     main)] nil]
+                      file (try [[(read-file file)] nil]
+                                (catch Exception e
+                                  (error-handler e {:expression expressions
+                                                    :verbose? verbose?
+                                                    :preloads preloads
+                                                    :loader (:loader @cp/cp-state)})))))
             expression (str/join " " expressions) ;; this might mess with the locations...
             exit-code
             ;; handle preloads
diff --git a/test-resources/bb.edn b/test-resources/bb.edn
index b41816ee..e283adaf 100644
--- a/test-resources/bb.edn
+++ b/test-resources/bb.edn
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-{:tasks {:eval-plus {:babashka/args ["-e" "(+ 1 2 3)"]}}}
+{:tasks {:eval-plus {:babashka/args ["-e" "(+ 1 2 3)"]}
+         :tree      {:babashka/args [":clojure" "-Stree"]}}}