diff --git a/include/qpdf/QPDFArgParser.hh b/include/qpdf/QPDFArgParser.hh
index e5b2c490..24e6ac48 100644
--- a/include/qpdf/QPDFArgParser.hh
+++ b/include/qpdf/QPDFArgParser.hh
@@ -150,6 +150,12 @@ class QPDFArgParser
     QPDF_DLL
     void insertCompletion(std::string const&);
 
+    // Throw a Usage exception with the given message. In completion
+    // mode, this just exits to prevent errors from partial commands
+    // or other error messages from messing up completion.
+    QPDF_DLL
+    void usage(std::string const& message);
+
   private:
     struct OptionEntry
     {
@@ -174,7 +180,6 @@ class QPDFArgParser
     void argCompletionBash();
     void argCompletionZsh();
 
-    void usage(std::string const& message);
     void checkCompletion();
     void handleArgFileArguments();
     void handleBashArguments();
diff --git a/libqpdf/QPDFJob_argv.cc b/libqpdf/QPDFJob_argv.cc
index aa2c8bf4..2e35bd74 100644
--- a/libqpdf/QPDFJob_argv.cc
+++ b/libqpdf/QPDFJob_argv.cc
@@ -2174,15 +2174,7 @@ ArgParser::argEndCopyAttachments()
 void
 ArgParser::usage(std::string const& message)
 {
-    if (this->ap.isCompleting())
-    {
-        // This will cause bash to fall back to regular file completion.
-        exit(0);
-    }
-    else
-    {
-        throw QPDFArgParser::Usage(message);
-    }
+    this->ap.usage(message);
 }
 
 std::vector<int>