diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/SSTableExport.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/SSTableExport.java
index d36a0a4fad..f638a84d81 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/SSTableExport.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/SSTableExport.java
@@ -443,7 +443,13 @@ public static void export(Descriptor desc, String[] excludes) throws IOException
      * @param args command lines arguments
      * @throws ConfigurationException on configuration failure (wrong params given)
      */
-    public static void main(String[] args) throws ConfigurationException, IOException
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws ConfigurationException
+    {
+        System.exit(mainInternal(args));
+    }
+
+    @SuppressWarnings("resource")
+    public static int mainInternal(String[] args) throws ConfigurationException
     {
         String usage = String.format("Usage: %s <sstable> [-k key [-k key [...]] -x key [-x key [...]]]%n", SSTableExport.class.getName());
 
@@ -456,7 +462,7 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws ConfigurationException, IOExceptio
         {
             System.err.println(e1.getMessage());
             System.err.println(usage);
-            System.exit(1);
+            return 1;
         }
 
 
@@ -464,7 +470,7 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws ConfigurationException, IOExceptio
         {
             System.err.println("You must supply exactly one sstable or directory");
             System.err.println(usage);
-            System.exit(1);
+            return 1;
         }
 
         Util.initDatabaseDescriptor();
@@ -476,7 +482,7 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws ConfigurationException, IOExceptio
         if ((keys != null) && (keys.length > 0) && (prefix != null))
         {
             System.err.println("Cannot specify keys and prefix at the same time");
-            System.exit(1);
+            return 1;
         }
 
         File fileOrDirectory = new File(cmd.getArgs()[0]);
@@ -500,20 +506,22 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws ConfigurationException, IOExceptio
                     i++;
                     String ssTableFileName = file.getAbsolutePath();
                     printStream.printf("\"%s\":", file.getName());
-                    handleSingleSsTableFile(ssTableFileName, keys, excludes, prefix, printStream);
+                    int res = handleSingleSsTableFile(ssTableFileName, keys, excludes, prefix, printStream);
+                    if (res != 0) {
+                        return res;
+                    }
                 }
                 printStream.println("}");
             }
             else
             {
-                handleSingleSsTableFile(fileOrDirectory.getAbsolutePath(), keys, excludes, prefix, printStream);
+                return handleSingleSsTableFile(fileOrDirectory.getAbsolutePath(), keys, excludes, prefix, printStream);
             }
         }
-
-        System.exit(0);
+        return 0;
     }
 
-    private static void handleSingleSsTableFile(String ssTableFileName, String[] keys, String[] excludes, String prefix, PrintStream printStream)
+    private static int handleSingleSsTableFile(String ssTableFileName, String[] keys, String[] excludes, String prefix, PrintStream printStream)
     {
         Descriptor descriptor = Descriptor.fromFilename(ssTableFileName);
 
@@ -522,7 +530,7 @@ private static void handleSingleSsTableFile(String ssTableFileName, String[] key
         {
             System.err.println(String.format("Filename %s references to nonexistent keyspace: %s!",
                     ssTableFileName, descriptor.ksname));
-            System.exit(1);
+            return 1;
         }
         Keyspace.setInitialized();
         Keyspace keyspace = Keyspace.open(descriptor.ksname);
@@ -545,7 +553,7 @@ private static void handleSingleSsTableFile(String ssTableFileName, String[] key
         {
             System.err.println(String.format("The provided table is not part of this cassandra keyspace: keyspace = %s, table = %s",
                                              descriptor.ksname, descriptor.cfname));
-            System.exit(1);
+            return 1;
         }
 
         try
@@ -569,6 +577,7 @@ else if (prefix != null)
             // throwing exception outside main with broken pipe causes windows cmd to hang
             e.printStackTrace(System.err);
         }
+        return 0;
     }
 
     private static void writeJSON(PrintStream out, Object value)