diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/cli.clj b/src/babashka/impl/cli.clj
index 7a152fc2..1ec08daf 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/cli.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/cli.clj
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 (let [extra-opts '%s
       sym `%s
       the-var (requiring-resolve sym)
+      _ (when-not the-var
+          (throw (ex-info (str \"Could not resolve sym to a function: \" sym) {:babashka/exit 1})))
       the-var-meta (meta the-var)
       ns (:ns (meta the-var))
       ns-meta (meta ns)
diff --git a/test/babashka/exec_test.clj b/test/babashka/exec_test.clj
index 960de5fa..69d13659 100644
--- a/test/babashka/exec_test.clj
+++ b/test/babashka/exec_test.clj
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 (deftest exec-test
   (is (= {:foo 1} (edn/read-string (bb "-x" "prn" "--foo" "1"))))
   (is (thrown? Exception (bb "-x" "json/generate-string" "--foo" "1")))
+  (is (thrown-with-msg? Exception #"Could not resolve sym to a function: clojure.core/generate-string"
+                        (bb "-x" "clojure.core/generate-string" "--foo" "1")))
   (is (= {:foo 1} (cheshire/parse-string
                    (edn/read-string
                     (bb "--prn" "-x" "cheshire.core/generate-string" "--foo" "1")) true))))