diff --git a/bin/qemush b/bin/qemush
index cb58b35..1cbf8c5 100755
--- a/bin/qemush
+++ b/bin/qemush
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ public_start() {
     QEMUSH_NAME="$1"
     shift
 
-    exec "$QEMUSH_NAME" "$@"
+    "$QEMUSH_NAME" "$@" || perror "error launching virtual machine \"${QEMUSH_NAME}\""
 }
 
 # Attach to a running virtual machine output, the latest opened if no