diff --git a/lib/mu-runtime.c b/lib/mu-runtime.c
index 09038133..6d21b8d2 100644
--- a/lib/mu-runtime.c
+++ b/lib/mu-runtime.c
@@ -131,7 +131,8 @@ runtime_free (void)
 void
 mu_runtime_uninit (void)
 {
-	g_return_if_fail (_initialized);
+	if (!_initialized)
+		return;
 
 	runtime_free ();
 
diff --git a/mu/mu.cc b/mu/mu.cc
index 16a4324c..c37c5e7c 100644
--- a/mu/mu.cc
+++ b/mu/mu.cc
@@ -56,23 +56,26 @@ handle_error (MuConfig *conf, GError *err)
 
 	switch (err->code) {
 	case MU_ERROR_XAPIAN_CANNOT_GET_WRITELOCK:
-		g_print ("maybe mu is already running?\n");
+		g_printerr ("maybe mu is already running?\n");
 		break;
 	case MU_ERROR_XAPIAN_CORRUPTION:
 	case MU_ERROR_XAPIAN_NOT_UP_TO_DATE:
-		g_print ("database needs update; try 'mu index --rebuild'\n");
+		g_printerr ("database needs update; "
+			    "try 'mu index --rebuild'\n");
 		break;
 	case MU_ERROR_XAPIAN_IS_EMPTY:
-		g_print ("database is empty; try 'mu index'");
+		g_printerr ("database is empty; try 'mu index'");
 		break;
 	case MU_ERROR_IN_PARAMETERS:
-		if (mu_config_cmd_is_valid(conf->cmd))
+		if (conf && mu_config_cmd_is_valid(conf->cmd))
 			mu_config_show_help (conf->cmd);
 		break;
-	default:break; /* nothing to do */
+	default:
+		break; /* nothing to do */
 	}
 
-	g_warning ("%s", err->message);
+	if (err)
+		g_printerr ("mu: %s\n", err->message);
 }
 
 
@@ -86,12 +89,16 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	setlocale (LC_ALL, "");
 	g_type_init ();
 
-	conf = mu_config_init (&argc, &argv);
-	if (!conf)
-		return 1;
-	else if (conf->version) {
+	err = NULL;
+	rv  = MU_OK;
+
+	conf = mu_config_init (&argc, &argv, &err);
+	if (!conf) {
+		rv = err ? (MuError)err->code : MU_ERROR;
+		goto cleanup;
+	} else if (conf->version) {
 		show_version ();
-		return 0;
+		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
 	/* nothing to do */
@@ -103,13 +110,12 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	err = NULL;
 	rv = mu_cmd_execute (conf, &err);
 
+cleanup:
 	handle_error (conf, err);
 	g_clear_error (&err);
 
-
 	mu_config_uninit (conf);
 	mu_runtime_uninit ();