diff --git a/autodist-repository b/autodist-repository
index e3c2a80..5f9ff29 100755
--- a/autodist-repository
+++ b/autodist-repository
@@ -554,7 +554,8 @@ function import_package() {
    } # ans = y
 
  else # check_existence != 1
-    echo "WARNING: $import_pkg reported by distromatic does no longer exist" >&2
+    echo "ERROR: $import_pkg reported by distromatic does no longer exist" >&2
+    return 255
  fi
 }