diff --git a/src/frontend/rawfile.c b/src/frontend/rawfile.c
index 0ecf0c354..a4b50ab42 100644
--- a/src/frontend/rawfile.c
+++ b/src/frontend/rawfile.c
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ raw_read(char *name) {
 
     if ((fp = fopen(name, "rb")) == NULL) {
         perror(name);
-        controlled_exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+        return NULL;
     }
 
     /* Since we call cp_evloop() from here, we have to do this junk. */