diff --git a/core/commands/bootstrap.go b/core/commands/bootstrap.go
index ac79b8314..403f3ac94 100644
--- a/core/commands/bootstrap.go
+++ b/core/commands/bootstrap.go
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ var bootstrapRemoveCmd = &cmds.Command{
 
 			input, perr := config.ParseBootstrapPeers(req.Arguments)
 			if perr != nil {
-				return err
+				return perr
 			}
 
 			removed, err = bootstrapRemove(r, cfg, input)
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0120-bootstrap.sh b/test/sharness/t0120-bootstrap.sh
index 589fea8c2..2314a02a2 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0120-bootstrap.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0120-bootstrap.sh
@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@ test_bootstrap_cmd() {
     test_cmp rm_expected rm_actual
   '
 
+  test_expect_success "'ipfs bootstrap rm' fails on bad peers" '
+    test_expect_code 1 ipfs bootstrap rm "foo/bar"
+  '
+
   test_bootstrap_list_cmd $BP2
 
   test_expect_success "'ipfs bootstrap add --default' succeeds" '