diff --git a/simd/main.go b/simd/main.go
index 4913650885c5..9890b4c0b0d5 100644
--- a/simd/main.go
+++ b/simd/main.go
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"os"
+
+	"cosmossdk.io/log"
 	"cosmossdk.io/simapp"
 	"cosmossdk.io/simapp/simd/cmd"
 	svrcmd "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/server/cmd"
@@ -9,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 func main() {
 	rootCmd := cmd.NewRootCmd()
 	if err := svrcmd.Execute(rootCmd, "", simapp.DefaultNodeHome); err != nil {
-		panic(err)
+		log.NewLogger(rootCmd.OutOrStderr()).Error("failure when running app", "err", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 }