diff --git a/build_protoc b/build_protoc
index d115e8a3e..248406f32 100755
--- a/build_protoc
+++ b/build_protoc
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ if [ -z $PROTOC] ; then
     PROTOC="protoc"
 fi
 
-command -v $PROTOC >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "protoc is required but not installed.  Skipping c protocol buffers"; exit 0; }
+command -v $PROTOC >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "protoc is required but not installed.  Aborting"; exit 1; }
 
 # die on error at this point
 set -e
diff --git a/build_protoc-c b/build_protoc-c
index ab88764fe..05171eaea 100755
--- a/build_protoc-c
+++ b/build_protoc-c
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ if [ -z $PROTOCC] ; then
 fi
 
 # running protoc-c is currently optional
-command -v $PROTOCC >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "protoc-c is required but not installed.  Aborting."; exit 0; }
+command -v $PROTOCC >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo >&2 "protoc-c is required but not installed.  Skipping c protocol buffers."; exit 0; }
 
 # die on error at this point
 set -e