diff --git a/src/net/sourceforge/schemaspy/Main.java b/src/net/sourceforge/schemaspy/Main.java
index 2837bce..96a4eae 100755
--- a/src/net/sourceforge/schemaspy/Main.java
+++ b/src/net/sourceforge/schemaspy/Main.java
@@ -14,6 +14,14 @@ public static void main(String[] argv) throws Exception {
         
         SchemaAnalyzer analyzer = new SchemaAnalyzer();
 
-        System.exit(analyzer.analyze(new Config(argv)));
+        int rc = 1;
+
+        try {
+            rc = analyzer.analyze(new Config(argv));
+        } catch (Exception exc) {
+            System.err.println(exc);
+        }
+        
+        System.exit(rc);
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/net/sourceforge/schemaspy/model/InvalidConfigurationException.java b/src/net/sourceforge/schemaspy/model/InvalidConfigurationException.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2179e2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/net/sourceforge/schemaspy/model/InvalidConfigurationException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package net.sourceforge.schemaspy.model;
+
+/**
+ * @author John Currier
+ */
+public class InvalidConfigurationException extends RuntimeException {
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    public InvalidConfigurationException() {
+        super();
+    }
+    
+    public InvalidConfigurationException(String msg) {
+        super(msg);
+    }
+    
+    public InvalidConfigurationException(Throwable cause) {
+        super(cause);
+    }
+    
+    public InvalidConfigurationException(String msg, Throwable cause) {
+        super(msg, cause);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/net/sourceforge/schemaspy/model/xml/SchemaMeta.java b/src/net/sourceforge/schemaspy/model/xml/SchemaMeta.java
index 88cc678..eaeec79 100644
--- a/src/net/sourceforge/schemaspy/model/xml/SchemaMeta.java
+++ b/src/net/sourceforge/schemaspy/model/xml/SchemaMeta.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 import javax.xml.validation.SchemaFactory;
 import javax.xml.validation.Validator;
 import net.sourceforge.schemaspy.Config;
+import net.sourceforge.schemaspy.model.InvalidConfigurationException;
 import org.w3c.dom.Document;
 import org.w3c.dom.Element;
 import org.w3c.dom.Node;
@@ -29,8 +30,7 @@ public class SchemaMeta {
     private final String comments;
     private final File metaFile;
     
-    @SuppressWarnings("null") // System.exit() results in compiler complaints about null doc refs
-    public SchemaMeta(String xmlMeta, String dbName, String schema) {
+    public SchemaMeta(String xmlMeta, String dbName, String schema) throws InvalidConfigurationException {
         File meta = new File(xmlMeta);
         if (meta.isDirectory()) {
             String filename = (schema == null ? dbName : schema) + ".meta.xml";
@@ -45,19 +45,17 @@ public SchemaMeta(String xmlMeta, String dbName, String schema) {
                     return;
                 }
 
-                System.err.println("Meta directory \"" + xmlMeta + "\" must contain a file named \"" + filename + '\"');
-                System.exit(2);
+                throw new InvalidConfigurationException("Meta directory \"" + xmlMeta + "\" must contain a file named \"" + filename + '\"');
             }
         } else if (!meta.exists()) {
-            System.err.println("Specified meta file \"" + xmlMeta + "\" does not exist");
-            System.exit(2);
+            throw new InvalidConfigurationException("Specified meta file \"" + xmlMeta + "\" does not exist");
         }
         
         metaFile = meta;
         
         Document doc = parse(metaFile);
         if (doc == null) {
-            System.exit(1);
+            throw new InvalidConfigurationException();
         }
     
         NodeList commentsNodes = doc.getElementsByTagName("comments");