diff --git a/indra/develop.py b/indra/develop.py
index 0b9e455aa33660cbcefa29271060f6e3a1757e0d..2e50fb040b4bd0b7b10da6e15627ddc4a5a3c200 100755
--- a/indra/develop.py
+++ b/indra/develop.py
@@ -661,12 +661,15 @@ def main(arguments):
                 raise CommandError('clean takes no arguments')
             setup.cleanup()
         else:
-            print >> sys.stderr, 'Error: unknown command', repr(cmd)
+            print >> sys.stderr, 'Error: unknown subcommand', repr(cmd)
             print >> sys.stderr, "(run 'develop.py --help' for help)"
             sys.exit(1)
     except CommandError, err:
         print >> sys.stderr, 'Error:', err
         sys.exit(1)
+    except getopt.GetoptError, err:
+        print >> sys.stderr, 'Error with %r subcommand: %s' % (cmd, err)
+        sys.exit(1)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':