diff --git a/nix/libutil/util.cc b/nix/libutil/util.cc
index 9a97270af90..77f2547b0a5 100644
--- a/nix/libutil/util.cc
+++ b/nix/libutil/util.cc
@@ -1193,7 +1193,9 @@ string runProgram(Path program, bool searchPath, const Strings & args)
         else
             execv(program.c_str(), stringsToCharPtrs(args_).data());
 
-        throw SysError(format("executing `%1%'") % program);
+	int err = errno;
+        printMsg(lvlError, format("executing `%1%': %2%") % program % strerror(err));
+	_exit(127);
     });
 
     pipe.writeSide.close();