diff --git a/usr.bin/split/split.c b/usr.bin/split/split.c
index 84c7bca97b5..602c1d8c529 100644
--- a/usr.bin/split/split.c
+++ b/usr.bin/split/split.c
@@ -309,6 +309,7 @@ newfile()
 static void
 usage()
 {
-	errx(EX_USAGE,
-"usage: split [-b byte_count] [-l line_count] [-p pattern] [file [prefix]]");
+	(void)fprintf(stderr,
+"usage: split [-b byte_count] [-l line_count] [-p pattern] [file [prefix]]\n");
+	exit(EX_USAGE);
 }