diff --git a/changelog/src/main/org/apache/maven/cvslib/CvsConnection.java b/changelog/src/main/org/apache/maven/cvslib/CvsConnection.java
index 5949fcf4..cf1be248 100644
--- a/changelog/src/main/org/apache/maven/cvslib/CvsConnection.java
+++ b/changelog/src/main/org/apache/maven/cvslib/CvsConnection.java
@@ -194,15 +194,15 @@ public class CvsConnection
         final String getOptString = globalOptions.getOptString();
         GetOpt go = new GetOpt(args, getOptString);
         int ch = -1;
-        boolean usagePrint = false;
         while ((ch = go.getopt()) != GetOpt.optEOF)
         {
             //System.out.println("Global option '"+((char) ch)+"',
             // '"+go.optArgGet()+"'");
+            String arg = go.optArgGet();
             boolean success =
-                globalOptions.setCVSCommand((char) ch, go.optArgGet());
+                globalOptions.setCVSCommand((char) ch, arg);
             if (!success)
-                usagePrint = true;
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException( "Failed to set CVS Command: -" + ch + " = " + arg );
         }
 
         return go.optIndexGet();