diff --git a/src/common/read_config.c b/src/common/read_config.c
index dbf036e9d4a0dab2a0d1ed4febf150a379beb3a3..0a1bd18ef9b5b22e29db8753eefc9f54efb37046 100644
--- a/src/common/read_config.c
+++ b/src/common/read_config.c
@@ -750,7 +750,7 @@ validate_config (slurm_ctl_conf_t *ctl_conf_ptr)
 	}
 
 	if (ctl_conf_ptr->control_machine == NULL)
-		error ("validate_config: ControlMachine not specified.");
+		fatal ("validate_config: ControlMachine not specified.");
 	else if (strcmp("localhost", ctl_conf_ptr->control_machine) == 0) {
 		xfree (ctl_conf_ptr->control_machine);
 		ctl_conf_ptr->control_machine = xmalloc (MAX_NAME_LEN);