diff --git a/client/mysql.cc b/client/mysql.cc
index ddc6441f08a..b3b1e35bb85 100644
--- a/client/mysql.cc
+++ b/client/mysql.cc
@@ -374,7 +374,11 @@ int main(int argc,char *argv[])
     exit(1);
   }
   glob_buffer.realloc(512);
-  mysql_server_init(0, NULL, (char**) server_default_groups);
+  if (mysql_server_init(0, NULL, (char**) server_default_groups))
+  {
+    free_defaults(defaults_argv);
+    exit(1);
+  }
   completion_hash_init(&ht, 128);
   init_alloc_root(&hash_mem_root, 16384, 0);
   bzero((char*) &mysql, sizeof(mysql));