diff --git a/src/slurmctld/controller.c b/src/slurmctld/controller.c
index c64f54b8b00d0e4a7c98aef4aa6ef0b0c029d3a6..81c0a4f73dee12982da5774484aa3a9ef32e5c26 100644
--- a/src/slurmctld/controller.c
+++ b/src/slurmctld/controller.c
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 #endif
 	log_fini();
 
-	return SLURM_SUCCESS;
+	exit(0);
 }
 
 /* initialization of common slurmctld configuration */