diff --git a/common-tools/clas-io/src/main/java/org/jlab/utils/HipoDiff.java b/common-tools/clas-io/src/main/java/org/jlab/utils/HipoDiff.java
index 946273f615..e0341362dd 100644
--- a/common-tools/clas-io/src/main/java/org/jlab/utils/HipoDiff.java
+++ b/common-tools/clas-io/src/main/java/org/jlab/utils/HipoDiff.java
@@ -134,5 +134,9 @@ public static void main(String args[]) {
         for (String name : badEntries.keySet()) {
             System.out.println(name + " " + badEntries.get(name));
         }
+
+        if (nbadevent + nbadrow + nbadentry > 0) {
+            System.exit(7);
+        }
     }
 }