diff --git a/src/core/core-command.c b/src/core/core-command.c
index aeb6c85d7..7befe8b6a 100644
--- a/src/core/core-command.c
+++ b/src/core/core-command.c
@@ -5599,7 +5599,8 @@ COMMAND_CALLBACK(print)
             }
             else
             {
-                util_parse_time (argv[i], &tv_date);
+                if (!util_parse_time (argv[i], &tv_date))
+                    COMMAND_ERROR;
             }
         }
         else if (string_strcmp (argv[i], "-tags") == 0)