diff --git a/scripts/bootgraph.pl b/scripts/bootgraph.pl
index a8635a10fef28fa165df0aa4cb2ab545135042d3..f0af9aa9b243bcb1892ede765a44b2b225921046 100644
--- a/scripts/bootgraph.pl
+++ b/scripts/bootgraph.pl
@@ -78,11 +78,13 @@ while (<>) {
 }
 
 if ($count == 0) {
-	print "No data found in the dmesg. Make sure that 'printk.time=1' and\n";
-	print "'initcall_debug' are passed on the kernel command line.\n\n";
-	print "Usage: \n";
-	print "      dmesg | perl scripts/bootgraph.pl > output.svg\n\n";
-	exit;
+    print STDERR <<END;
+No data found in the dmesg. Make sure that 'printk.time=1' and
+'initcall_debug' are passed on the kernel command line.
+Usage:
+      dmesg | perl scripts/bootgraph.pl > output.svg
+END
+    exit 1;
 }
 
 print "<?xml version=\"1.0\" standalone=\"no\"?> \n";